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Chapter Text

Autumn 1987

The first hint of morning poured through the thinly veiled windows, dampened only by the old and mostly sheer curtains that were hung from the semi-rusted silver rod.

With the first few months of his junior year passed, Will had been trying his best to soak up every bit of sleep he could muster on the weekends. It'd been a particularly weird week that left him absolutely exhausted. 

He figured it was nothing but nerves and a twinge of anxiety creeping up on him as October neared its end, November always being his least favorite month for obvious reasons. It didn't feel Upside Down related, it couldn't be. Vecna was dead, he and El had killed him themselves. 

So, obviously it was stress that made him wake up in the middle of the night with a strange off feeling that he just couldn't shake. He brushed it aside long enough to fall asleep once more, only enough to reach the first bits of the sunrise that was currently blinding him. 

Will opened his eyes slowly, blinking blearily against the light shining in his eyes before sitting up with a stifled yawn. It was early, too early to be up on a Saturday, judging by the glance at his clock. 

7:47am. 

He rubbed his eyes, pushing the covers off of him before swinging his legs over the side of the bed. His feet hit the floor and he winced at the cold that traveled up his body, a harsh reminder that summer really was over. 

He doesn't hate fall, not really. Do his panic attacks increase exponentially throughout the entire month of November? Sure, but at least the color change of the leaves make for good paintings. Plus, who doesn't love Halloween?

With his mind focused on getting socks and getting to the bathroom, he almost didn't notice the small bundle of blankets lying on his floor. His foot caught on the slick material of the sleeping bag and he came crashing to the floor with a yelp. 

He didn't have much time to recover when an alarmed yell filled his ears, the lump from the floor rising up rapidly to grab at him. 

"Will?! Are you okay?!" 

"What the hell?!"

The room went silent as Will stared at the person in front of him, his eyes wide and jaw slack in shock. His eyes met those of a child, though not an unfamiliar child. 

"Will?" The small boy crawled a crossed the floor, his eyes wide as he reached out to touch his face. 

Will backed up against his bed, horror etched on his face. "Mike?"

"What happened to you?" They both asked in unison, both boys staring at each other with wide eyes. 

"Shit." Will dropped his head in his hands. "I'm dreaming, this is a weird dream. Wake up, wake up, wake up." He murmured to himself. It couldn’t be real. 

The younger boy reached over, placing a hand on Wills arm before pinching him, hard. 

"Ow!" Will glared at the small boy who gave an innocent shrug. 

"Not dreaming." Mike looked around the room, wrapping his arms around himself. "Your room looks different. You look different."

"Uh," Will flushed as he looked at the small boy, confusion was evident on his face but he seemed determined to figure out what was going on. Sounds like Mike. 

The younger boy looked up at him, his head tilted as he pouted a bit. "Am I dreaming?"

Will shook his head, swallowing a bit as he tangled his hands together in his lap. "No, you're not." He paused, his thoughts racing as he stared at the tiny version of his...uh. Whatever you'd call Mike to him these days. 

"Are you real?" Will blurted, still staring at the small child as if he were a Demogorgon or something. Not exactly fair, but Vecna gave him a little extra trust issues even after his death. 

Mike wrinkled his nose, staring at the older boy before laughing a little, albeit a bit hysterically. "Uh, I think so?"

"No. Are you like, my Mike? Not m-my Mike, just like, uh, from my dimension? Are you from a different timeline? Shit, is there another dimension? Oh, fuck." Will buried his face in his hands. "How old are you? Are you sixteen?"

"You cuss a lot." Mike blinked at him. "I've never heard you cuss."

Will watched the smaller boy frown at him curiously. "Mike, focus."

"I'm twelve." Mike looked up at him, his eyes wide as he tilted his head. "You're obviously not twelve."

"No, I'm sixteen." Will dropped his gaze to his lap and sighed, bringing his hands up to cover his face. This was fine. He'd been kidnapped to another dimension, possessed, burned alive, haunted, hunted, cursed, and almost possessed again all in the past four years. 

Waking up to a small version of your childhood best friend is nothing, right?

Mike opened his mouth to speak before a loud knock cut him off. Will quickly flung himself up from the floor into the door to hold it shut, cursing himself for hanging not locked it in the first place. 

"Will?" El called through the door. "Will, are you okay?"

Mikes head snapped around, his eyes wide and confused. "That's not your mom." He whispered bewilderedly. His hand was outstretched, gripping onto Wills pajama pants tightly. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

"What? No! That's my sister, Mike!" Wills face twisted in disgust, his whisper nearing a hiss as Mike narrowed his eyes at him. 

"You don't have a sister, Will. I think I would know that." Mike crossed his arms over his chest, his face pulled into his signature 'I'm a little shit' expression. 

"Just, shut up for a minute." Will whispered, holding the door shut as El tried to barrel through. 

"Will!!"

"I, uh, I'm naked, El!! Don't come in!" Will yelled through the door as she gave it another shove. 

Mike snickered a little, pulling Will’s shirt sleeve to get his attention. "Naked? Really?"

"Shut up!" Will hissed, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

"Why the hell are you naked, kid?" Hoppers voice met his ears and Will swore if Hell was real, he it would be more merciful than whatever this was. 

"Baby, we heard screaming." His mom tapped on the door, her voice soft and concerned. 

"Was it happy screams?" Fucking El.

"God, please tell me it's not happy screams." Jonathan groaned tiredly. "Just let us in, Will."

"It better not be, it's not even eight in the morning." Hopper grumbled. "Please tell me it's not Wheeler in there."

Will felt his face burning, covering it with his hands as he groaned. "I'm getting dressed! I-I tripped and fell and yelled on accident and I have to go to Mikes in like ten minutes because he just radioed and said he had something to show me and everyone else and I just had to get ready."

"...Are you sure Wheeler’s not in there?"

“Hopper…” His mom warned. “Leave Mike alone.”

"Why is the chief of police in your house?" Mike whispered, confusion overtaking his featured once more. "And why does he hate me so much?"

"It's a long story and I'll tell you if you please just stop talking." Will pleaded quietly, pulling him up from the ground and shoving him across the room towards a slightly ajar door. "Get in my closet."

"You're kidding, right?" Mike looked up at him, his eyebrows furrowed. "I'm so confused, why aren't you answering me?"

"Because my whole family is outside the door thinking I'm...doing something weird and the last thing they need to see is me harboring a twelve year old  in my room. Do you want my family to think I'm a freak?" 

"You're not a freak, Will." Mike frowned, still looking up at him with a face that made him vaguely uncomfortable. He remembered being twelve and Mike looking at him just like that. 

Will sighed, shaking his head. "Right, yeah. Okay, please just be quiet for a minute. I'm going to figure this out and get you back to wherever you came from."

"Promise?" Mike looked so vulnerable standing in the closet, big scared eyes staring up at him. For such a young kid, he was taking it all surprisingly well. Though, it shouldn't be surprising considering how well he'd adjusted with the Upside Down and how he'd always believed Will. 

Or used to, at least. Not that Will could really blame him. 

Mike stared up at him, big dark eyes so trusting and innocent. He did look a little like a frog, but it was endearing in a way. Mike didn't look like that anymore. Now he was beautiful-

God, why wouldn't his brain shut up?

"I promise." Will cleared his throat, quietly shutting the door before stumbling over to his dresser to throw on a sweater. He looked insane in his pajamas still, but he hoped the sweater would cover up his shitty lie. 

Quickly, he unlocked his window before he threw the door open, face flushed from nerves and hair just as messy as the rest of them. 

"Sorry, you guys needed something?" He grinned sheepishly, looking between the four people standing in front of his room. 

"Why are you still in your pajamas? Thought you were getting dressed?" Jonathan asked, pointing to his pants. Will flushed a bit more, making eye contact with the countless Yodas in Christmas hats. 

"Pajama party." He blurted. "Mike is having a pajama party."

"At eight in the morning?" Hopper deadpanned, raising his eyebrows in disbelief. 

"He's, uh, going through something right now. His fish died." Will lied, swallowing as El narrowed her eyes at him. "He's taking it really hard so we're trying to cheer him up."

Joyce sighed, pulling him in and kissing his head. "Do you need me to drop you off before I go to work?"

Guilt pooled in his stomach as she obviously bought his lie. He shook his head, avoiding his sister’s unwavering glare. "No, that's okay. I can take my bike."

"Why was I not invited?" El asked, crossing her arms. "Is Max invited?"

Shit.

"Um, it's an all boy thing. Mikes going to be crying and stuff so..." A quiet snort came from the closet, causing Will to slam his bedroom door shut behind him and launch into a faux coughing fit. 

"Oh, sweetie, are you sick?" Joyce rested a hand on his head, frowning up at him as she found no fever. "Maybe you can reschedule?"

"No!" Will blurted, backing up against his door and giving them a shaky smile. "I, uh, I actually have to go to the pet store to get him a new fish. To, um, help the grieving process. Dustin's idea, it's a whole like scientific thing. A study said it'll help exponentially."

His mom and Hopper shared a look, clearly not believing everything he's saying.

"Alright, kid. Let us know if you need a ride home, okay?" Hopper clapped a hand on his shoulder, glancing behind his shoulder towards his room suspiciously before walking back to his mom and his bedroom. 

Jonathan frowned at him a bit as their mom and Hopper disappeared back into their room. "Will, are you sure you don't need a ride?"

"Uh, can I actually borrow your car?" Will shifted on his feet, looking up at him with a sheepish smile. "I don't wanna drop the fish in the road."

Jonathan stared at him for a a moment before sighing. "Yeah, sure. Just be careful, okay? You just barely have your license and Wheeler is not worth getting in a car accident over. No matter what." His tone was knowing, making Will wish he was never born. Maybe Mike didn't hear him. Or didn't read into it, at least.

“Right, totally.” Will bounced on his feet nervously, twisting his hands together. “I uh, I think I’m gonna go now.”

El crossed her arms, jutting her chin up with a sour face. “Will. Can we talk?”

“I’m really running late, El. We can when I get home.” Will spares them both another sheepish grin before bolting out the door, ignoring their questions looks as he snags Jonathan’s keys off the table. 

He pulls in a deep breath before sneaking around to the other side of his house, the cool October morning biting into his…fuck, how’d he forget shoes? He didn’t even get a chance to put socks on before Mike rocked his whole morning. 

Again, typical Mike. 

He sighed, rounding the corner before climbing up to open his window. He struggled a little to climb in, looking up to meet the gaze of one twelve year old Mike Wheeler, a soft smile and outstretched hand. 

“How often do you sneak back in through your window?” Mike asked as Will sat on the window, snorting a little. 

“Not very. A couple times in and out.” Will answered, swinging his legs in and shoving his feet into a pair of slippers. His shoes were by the door, unfortunately, so his only option (that fit) was a pair of obnoxiously cheesy bunny slippers. A gift from Jonathan for Christmas the year before when the world was ending. He followed it up with new paint brushes, but the slippers were comfy, even though they were super embarrassing. 

Mike glanced down at his feet and grinned, raising his eyebrows. “Big fan of the bunnies?”

“Shut up, you have Han Solo slippers.” Will snorted, “Leave my bunnies alone.”

“Yeah, well Han Solo is cool and badass and hot, so.” Mike rambled before his words could process. His face bloomed red as his gaze snapped up to Will. “Uh, generally speaking.”

Will stared at him for a moment, eyebrows raised before shaking his head and going back to his window. “Is that why we watched Star Wars three times when we were ten?”

Mike flushes even more, crossing his arms with a huff. “Why do you sneak out of your house? Meeting up with your girlfriend?”

“Yeah.” Will snorts. “You figured it out.”

Mike blanched, staring up at him for a moment before scowling. “You do have a girlfriend!”

Will rolled his eyes, climbing into the window and swinging his legs over the edge. “Trust me, Mike, I do not have a girlfriend.” He glanced over his shoulder before hopping down. 

“When did you get so mean?” Mike huffed, following after him. He straightened up, stepping towards the older boy. 

“I’m not mean.” Will looked down at him, walking towards the car before opening the door for him, glancing warily over his shoulder to make sure no one was watching from the house. “You’re just nosy.”

“I think I’m allowed to be nosy. You’re my best friend from the future, Will! And you’re weirdly okay with all of this.” Mike climbed into the passenger seat, sinking low and pouting. 

“Like I said, I’ll explain when it’s safe to.” Will shut his door, quickly walking around and getting into the drivers seat with a nervous breath. He hated driving but it would be kind of hard to hide a kid on a bike. 

“We are still best friends, right?” Mike looked over at him, his expression softening into worry. “Will?”

Wills grip tightened on the steering wheel as he pulled out of the driveway, his jaw clenching a bit. “We’re friends.”

“Oh.” 

He looked over to see the smaller boy curling in on himself, a conflicted expression on his face. Will felt guilty, he should’ve just lied and said they were fine. That they’d always be best friends. But lying is what got him into that mess in the first place. 

Besides, looking at Mikes twelve year old baby face? Will could never lie to him, not back then and somehow, still not even in that moment.

“You’re my best friend.” Mike twisted the fabric of his shirt in his hand. “I-I don’t care what happens in the future or anything. You’re still gonna be my best friend.”

Will looked over at him for a moment before focusing back on the road. He’d forgotten how open Mike used to be with him. How vulnerable he let himself be. He didn’t deserve it, not anymore. 

“Was it my fault?” Mike asked softly, filling the silence Will created. 

“No, it’s mine.” Will admitted, glancing over to see Mikes face fall. 

“I don’t care.” Mike sat up a bit. “Future me is a piece of shit.”

“No, he’s not.” Will sighed, slowing down at a stoplight before looking over at the smaller boy. “Look, it’s complicated and it’s not important. You don’t have to worry about it.”

“Yes, I do! Why can’t we work it out? I mean, we never fight! I’ve never even seen you mad, Will! Why can’t you tell me what it’s all about?” Mike turned to face him, eyes pleading and big. 

The older boy sighed, running a hand over his face. “I’ll tell you later! The most important thing is getting to Mikes house, getting the Party together, and figuring this all out so you can go back to your…time?”

Mike huffed, slinking back in the seat as Will pulled up to the Wheelers house. 

“We didn’t even get a fish.” Mike muttered, taking off his seatbelt. “And you’re a bad driver.”

“I am not.” Will rolled his eyes, climbing out of the car. “You don’t even like fish, Mike. And I’m trying to get him to help us, not slam the door in my face.”

“I would never-!” 

Will shushed him, grabbing his arm and dragging him up to the front door. He stood there for a moment, hand lifted to knock. He swallowed, chewing on his lip for a minute before sparing a glance to the small boy who was leaning against the wall, obscured from the viewpoint of the door. 

“It’s okay,” Mike reached out and grabbed his hand as he spoke in that soft voice of his. “It’s just me, I’d never be mad at you.”

Will gave him a sad smile, nodding before bringing his fist down on the door in a loud knock. 

After a few seconds of shuffling, a bang, and a loud curse, the door opened revealing a disheveled and frumpy Mike Wheeler. 

Right, it was only eight in the morning. 

“Hey, Mike.” Will greeted anxiously, twisting the hem of his sweater in his hands. 

“What are you doing here?” Mike frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. Hurt was still evident in his eyes, yet he pulled his expression into a mask of unimpressive boredom. 

“Uh, code red?” Will shuffled his feet a bit, his chest feeling tight at the way Mike was staring down at him. 

“If only we had Supercoms to call on. Do you think I’m an idiot?” Mike huffed, his face pulling into annoyance. “Really, you lie to me, ignore me for a month, avoid me at school, won’t answer a single goddamn phone call and now you show up at my house at the fucking crack of dawn-”

“It’s eight, Mike.” 

“I don’t care!! What?! What do you want?! Are you mad that I’m not trying anymore?! What do you want?!” Mike snapped, his voice raising as he threw his hands up on the air in exasperation. 

Will flinched at the volume of his voice before his face fell, his eyes stinging as he took a step back. “Mike-”

“Whatever, Will, figure your own shit out.” Mike went to slam the door in his face before it was slammed back at him, two hands shoving at his chest hard.

“Don’t you dare talk to him like that, you piece of shit!!” The young version of himself screamed, shoving him back again. “Don’t yell at him!”

Will cursed under his breath, grabbing the thrashing twelve year old and wrapping his arms around him to stop him from punching the taller boy. 

“Hey, hey, calm down, it’s okay.” Will hated how his voice shook, the youngest boy still seething in his arms. 

Mike stood there, stupefied as he stared at the two. The shock on his face would’ve been funny if it weren’t for the stress of the whole situation. 

“Will, who is that?” Mike asked hesitantly, his eyes never leaving the snarling boy. 

“I’m the better version of you, asshole.” The boy spat, glaring up at him with a fury Will had only seen a few times in his life. 

Mike stared for a moment longer, his eyes glazing over before he swayed on his feet. “Oh… Right, yeah. Totally.” 

“Mike, you should really sit down.” Will warned, his arms loosening around the much calmer child before taking a tentative step toward the taller boy. 

“I’m fine.” Mike said, breathlessly as he continued staring at his younger self. “Just fine…”

His eyes rolled to the back of his head before his body fell into a heap in Will’s arms. 

Shit.

Chapter Text

“He doesn't deserve a pillow." 

"Hush, okay? I'm not just leaving him on the floor." Will sighed, shoving a throw pillow under his head.

"Right, let's leave him outside. Maybe a coyote will get him."

"We can't throw him out of his own house." Will turned to give the boy a look, he returned it with a shrug.

"Not my fault he decided to pass out." He huffed. "I took it better than him and I'm the one who time traveled! My version of you is going to flip out when he wakes up and I'm not on his floor."

"I think he'll manage, Mike." Will snorted. "Give him some credit, I didn't freak out too bad when I woke up to you on my floor."

The smaller boy grinned, crossing his arms. "Probably because of my devilishly good looks, better than Skeletor over there."

"Skeletor is you in four years." Will rolled his eyes, making his way over to stand by the unconscious boy and shaking his shoulder. "Mike, wake up."

Mike peeled open his eyes, meeting Will concerned gaze and...his own glare.

"Shame, he's alive." Mini Mike rolled his eyes, stepping closer to Will who sighed.

"Be nice." He muttered, looking down to older Mike who looked like he was about to puke. "Are you okay, Mike?"

"This isn't real." He looked between the two, his face paling like he was about to pass out again. "This is impossible."

His younger self snorted, looking up to Will. "Tell me, Will, when did I become such a pussy?"

"Mike!" Will slapped a hand over his face, giving him a disapproving frown. "Stop antagonizing him, please."

The younger boy deflated, crossing his arms tighter over his chest. "It is real, I'm real, the whole shebang. Are you going to help us, or what?"

Will sighed, kneeling by where Mike was laying on the couch. Will had picked him up off the ground and plopped him there after he'd passed out a few minutes before. The younger boy absolutely fascinated that Will could lift a whole person and promptly did not help.

"Mike, I just need your Supercom. Mine's dead and I couldn't use my phone. I'm going to take him to the cabin but I needed to get Dustin and Lucas first without their parents hearing." Will explained, watching Mikes face twist up.

"Wait, you don't want my help? You don't need me?" Mike sat up, his nose wrinkled in annoyance. "You came here just to use my Supercom, are you kidding me? You're not even going to explain why there's another me or what's going on?"

"Well, you made it pretty clear you're not interested in helping me, Mike. I figured you wouldn't want to." Will frowned, shutting his eyes and taking a deep breath. "I'll just be a minute, is it still in the basement?"

"Beside my bed." Mike dropped his gaze to his lap as Will stood up and rushed upstairs. 

The living room was quiet, the young boy stood across the room glowering at him as if Mike was the whole reason he was there.

"Will is supposed to be our best friend." He said coldly. "And you treat him like shit."

Mike looked up at the boy, rolling his eyes. "You don't know what you're talking about. You don't know what happened, what he did."

"He won't tell me anything." He crossed his arms again, looking mighty angry over something he had no clue about.

"Typical." Mike muttered.

"Screw you." The kid bit back.

"Stop fighting." Will came back, Supercom in hand. "They're meeting us at the cabin. Thanks, Mike." He said, grabbing the younger boys shoulder and steering him towards the door.

He watched them for a moment, clearly fighting some sort of internal battle before groaning loudly. "Goddammit." Mike muttered to himself before standing up. "Wait, I want to help."

Will turned around, surprised. "You do?"

Mike gave him a hesitant look. "Yeah, I do." He avoided the boys eyes. "This includes me, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, yeah. I guess it does." Will turned back to the door, hand still on the smaller boys shoulder. "You ready?"

Little Mike looked up at him, hands on his hip as he gave him an unimpressed look as he glanced between them. "I call shotgun."

"Little shit." Mike grumbled as he shoved his feet into his shoes before heading out the door.

—

By the time they reached the cabin, both Mike's were green in the face, white-knuckling the handles of the car.

"Will, who the hell gave you your license?" Mike threw open the door, climbing out on shaky hands.

"Well, uh, I kind of only have my learners permit." Will admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "Don't tell Jonathan, I didn't want to tell him I failed the test."

"Oh, so you're like a rule breaker now?" Little Mike grinned up at him, sticking close to his side. "I bet you go to all the high school ragers, don't you?"

Will snorted, shaking his head. "Oh, yeah, definitely." He laughed. "If you count library study sessions and Dustin's birthday party as ragers."

"Depends on how crazy Dustin is now." The smaller boy bounded up beside him, grinning widely up at him. "Does he still do the arm thing?"

"Only to scare people away." Will joked, nudging the smiling boy.

"What about Troy?"

"Still a mouthbreather."

"Can we just go inside?" Mike snapped from the back, his arms crossed in a huff. "He's supposed to be hidden and it's freezing."

"No one is around, Mike." Will rolled his eyes. "You hide one girl in your basement and you think you're an expert."

Mike (the kid) snapped his neck around and stared at him incredulously. "You hid a girl in the basement?! Gross! Why?!"

"Jesus Christ! Can't we just dump him somewhere?!"

"He's you, Mike! You want to dump yourself?" Will gave him an unimpressed stare.

"I guess so!" Mike threw his hands up in the arm, roughing opening the cabin door. "It smells like shit in here."

"Looks like shit too." His younger self quipped, looking around. "This your murder cabin, Will? I, for one, would be delighted to help you bury a body. Since I'm a good best friend and he's a little bitch."

"Oh my god, what are you even talking about! Will has never killed anyone on purpose!" Mike gave him an exasperated look.

"What the hell do you mean on purpose?!" The younger boy rounded on him, his face scrunched.

"Michael! Shut up!"

Both boys looked at him, both looking overtly offended. Will sighed, rubbing a hand over his face as the boys quieted down before sitting down on the dusty old couch.

"Besides, I've already helped him bury a body, so fuck you." Mike said petulantly, leaning against the couch with his arms crossed.

"You're lying!" The smaller boy jabbed a finger in his chest, red in the face.

"Oh my god." Will got up, walking to the door as soon as a rhythmic knocking broke up the argument.

Instead of the just two boys he was expecting, they were joined by both El and Max, the former giving him an unimpressed look. Lucas and Dustin’s eyes fell to his pajama pants and slippered, teasing grins on their faces. 

“Dude. Bunny slippers?” Lucas smirked.

“Love the Santa Yoda pants.” Dustin snickered, reaching out to poke at them before Will smacked his hand away.

“I was in a hurry!” He defended, his cheeks burning red as El glared at him.

"Friends don't lie, Will." She snipped, staring him down with a look that could kill. "Why do you lie?"

"Oh, is lying just becoming your habit now, Will?" Mike called from the living room, his tone bitchy.

Will sighed, immediately turning to grab the younger Mike before he could lunge. The smaller boy seething as Will held him by the back of his shirt with a sigh.

"You're such an asshole!" He tried to lunge again, cut off by Will tugging backwards again. "Hey!"

El looked at him for a moment, tilting her head at the small child currently struggling against her brother before waking in and raising an eyebrow at the older Mike.

"Mike, you lie too. Or do you forget the pizza dough freezer and Nana?" She put her hands on her hip. "Will, let the child attack him, he's annoying."

Mike blanched, his mouth opening and closing like a fish as Will protests, muttering to the child to try and calm him down.

"No fucking way."

Dustin bounded into the room, Lucas and Max hot on his trail before he snatched the young boy from Will, grabbing his face and examining it. "What the hell is this?"

"Oh my god, no! No! I am not dealing with this again!" Lucas groaned, crowding into the younger boys space. "One Mike is bad enough!"

"Hey!" They both exclaimed, twin looks of annoyance on their faces. The smaller boy shoving their hands away with a huff.

"Can someone tell me what's going on? Lack of sight here." Max slammed her white cane down on Mikes foot, smirking at his yelp. "Sorry, Michael, didn't see you there."

"For fucks sake!" Mike bursted, grabbing a pillow to throw at her before Will caught it and threw him a withering look. "Does she even need that? Obviously she knew where I was."

"Mike, shut up." Will sighed, turning to guide the four other teens to sit on the dusty couch.

"Are you kidding-"

"Michael, do you want to hear what's happening or not?" Will snapped, looking at him with the least patience he's had all morning. He wasn't normally snippy, least of all with Mike, but he was cold, tired, and frustrated at the entire world. Mike, given that their friendship was definitely not okay at the moment, was practically begging for Will’s pent up frustrations to smash him to pieces.

Mikes mouth snapped shut as he leaned against the wall grumpily, glaring daggers at the floor.

"I can hear him pouting. Good job, Will." Max smirked as she leaned back on the couch. "Now, who's the kid?"

"Who are you?" The smaller Mike questioned, staring at her with a pinched expression. "I thought you said you didn't have a girlfriend, Will."

The room went completely silent before Max bursted into laughter, Will pressing a hand to his forehead.

"That's what you're concerned about right now?" Will groaned as Dustin, El, and Lucas joined in on her giggles. Both Miles glowered at him like he just insulted their entire family bloodline.

"It's not my main concern! It's like...like a sub-concern!" The younger boy grumbled, crossing his arms grumpily. Will snorted at that, rolling his eyes.

"Max is Lucas's girlfriend. I, as I've said three times today, do not have or want a girlfriend." Will sat down on the armchair. "Can we please move on?"

"Oh." The younger Mike had the nerve to look sheepish. "Yeah, of course! Sorry!"

Lucas and Dustin shared a look, snickering to themselves as the smaller Mike sunk down into the couch with flushed cheeks.

"Okay," Will began, shifting himself to face everyone. "I don't think this is Upside Down related. With One dead, it's just not possible."

The teens around the room nod, full attention on him. He swallowed, looking away from their eyes as his nerves got the better of him.

"I've... I've felt off this week, but not like I did with everything before. Just like, I don't know, tired and like something was... not wrong, but..."

"Off?" Mike's voice was softer now, the usual annoyance of the day melting away into concern as he stepped closer. In turn, his smaller self scooted closer as well.

"Yeah, off." Will glanced up at him, unable to hold back the small twitch his lips gave. He looked back to the rest of the group. "I woke up early, like early, early. I figured it was just, you know, random, but it felt even stronger today. Kind of like when I had to use my, um," He trailed off, becoming increasingly uncomfortable talking about his abilities.

They were just another connection to the Upside Down. Another reason to feel different. Another thing to hate about himself.

Lucas reached over, clasping a hand on his shoulder and giving him a soft, empathetic smile. "You felt drained?" He offered.

Will returned the smile, nodding warily. Appreciation blooming in his chest as Lucas nodded to prompt him forward.

"Yeah," Will swallowed. "So I got out of bed and when I was walking to the door, I tripped over something and it lunged up and I, I don't know, thought it was something from the Upside Down for a second. But then I saw it was Mike." He tried to hide the shakiness in his voice, pointedly avoiding the concerned gaze of the older boy.

"Mike, but from four years ago." Will clarified, the younger boy pressing closer to his side.

"Holy shit." Dustin muttered before hopping up with excitement. "That's crazy! You time traveled basically!"

"Aw, it's Will’s little guard dog, back and breathing!" Max snickered from her spot next to El. "Do you remember how he used to drag poor Will around like a little rag doll, practically snarling and snapping at anyone who tried to get near him."

"I was being a good friend, Maxine." The older Mike snapped, his face flushing. "If you forget, Will had just gotten back from being kidnapped by a fucking crazy maniac that we just found out about after thinking it was a goddamn Demogorgon for three years and then got possessed by a shadow monster! So, forgive me if I was a little worried about my best friend!"

"A little?" Max snorted, "You screamed at us in the middle of trick or treating and took him back to your own house instead of home, like you said you were doing."

"I-" Mike snapped his mouth shut, glowering at her.

"Hm, cat got your tongue, Wheeler?" Max smirked, crossing her arms. "Isn't that what happened, Will?"

Will looked between them, locking eyes with Mike for a second before tearing his gaze away.

"Max, please stop." Wills voice was softer now, the redheads expression dropping immediately.

"Right, uh, go on." Max cleared her throat, fiddling with her cane.

"I just need help." Will admitted, hands in his lap as he felt the smaller Mike grab onto his shirtsleeve. "I need to fix this, but I don't know how."

El stood up, grabbing one of her brothers hands. "We will help you. We'll figure this out, just like we always do. No more lies, okay?"

Will looked up at her with misty eyes. "I know, I'm sorry, El. I didn't want to lie, I just...you've been through so much and it just started getting better for you. I didn't want to drag you in again. I didn't want to drag anyone in again. It's my fault everything else happened, I just...I didn't want to be the reason it happened again." He admitted softly, remorse pouring from his voice as El yanked him into a hug.

"None of this is your fault, Will. None of it has ever been your fault. I would never blame you for any of it. Henry was a bad man, he hurt me and he hurt you. That is not your fault. We saved you because we love you. That's not an inconvenience. You are not an inconvenience. You are my brother, I would do anything for you." El pulled away, her eyes steady on his as she held his shoulders. "Do not blame yourself."

Will swallowed, willing away the tears that burned at the back of his eyes. "I would do anything for you too." He said, his voice a little choked up.

"I know." She smiled, pulling away fully before turning to the smaller Mike. "We will get you home, okay? I promise."

Mike stared up at her, wide eyed and confused. "Okay."

Will felt a hand clasp his shoulder after a moment, looking to the side to see Mike’s conflicted face.

"She's right, Will. We're gonna figure this out. Together." Mike's tone was so much softer now as the rest of the room broke out with Dustin and Lucas trading theories, Max and El discussing solutions, and the smaller Mike staring at the ground with an unreadable expression.

"Yeah," Will replied softly, looking to the smaller boy beside him, his sleeve still clenched in his hand. "Together."

Chapter Text

The room was filled with chatter, everyone discussing different possibilities and solutions. How it couldn't possibly be linked to the Upside Down since it no longer existed, which begged the question of if there's another alternate dimension. 

Or, maybe, Mike got dragged here from his alternate dimension the same as Will was. Which…also didn’t make sense.

Speaking of Mike, Will realized the youngest member of the group had been eerily silent considering how he was always loud and boisterous. 

His stomach knotted up when he finally looked over to see the pale boy shaking and his eyes glazed over. He swore his heart shattered at the sight. 

Immediately he kneeled in front of him, grabbing his hands to get his attention. 

"Mike? Hey, look at me. What's wrong?" The younger boys head snapped up and he sniffled, shaking his head. 

"You get taken? You get hurt? Someone hurts you?" Mike’s words are hoarse and frightened, his lips trembling as he looks at him. "I'm supposed to protect you. I promised I'd always protect you..."

The whole room goes silent, all eyes falling on the two.

"I," Will considered his words, watching as the boy in front of him shakes, filled with panic. "Yes. I was taken. Four years ago, I got dragged to what we call the Upside Down. It's...It's basically an alternate wasteland, and I got stuck there for a week. But, but you saved me. You and El and my mom. Lucas, Dustin, Jonathan, Nancy, Hopper. Even Steve."

"Steve Harrington? The douchebag?" Mike sniffled, wiping his eyes with his sleeve despite more tears pouring out. Will can tell he blocked out everyone else in the room, his eyes zeroing in on only him. 

"Yeah, he's not like that anymore though. He’s good." Will explained, giving his hand a squeeze as the smaller boy hiccuped. "A year after that, I got possessed and you stayed with me the whole time. You protected me then, like almost as much as my mom did. You stayed with me while I was in the hospital and you saved me when I completely lost my mind. You talked to me and got through to me and... Mike, you saved me."

"I saved you? Really?" Mike leans in closer, his eyes unbelievably wide and so innocent that Will feels like a monster exposing him to all of this. 

"Yeah, you did. You saved me so many times. And after all that, you were the one to help me get better. You're the reason I'm alive today. Because you didn't stop believing I was alive and that I was still there when I was possessed. That I was worth being saved even after everything I did. Everything I caused." Will gave him a soft smile, his voice even softer than it was before though a little choked up. "But I'm okay now, okay? And you don't have to worry. It's hard and scary and probably the worst time of our lives, but we make it through."

Mike nodded, though his face crumpled a little as more tears poured down his little face. God, Will hated seeing it so much. 

"But I lose you anyway, right?" His voice broke, looking over to the older version of himself. "After everything, I still lose you."

Will broke out of his focus on the smaller boy, finally looking over to Mike. His chest felt tight when he saw the older boys sullen face. He quickly looks back at the smaller boy, struggling to keep himself composed. 

"Maybe things will be different for you." Will spoke quieter, hoping that the others wouldn't hear. "I hope you can keep your Will in the way you want him. That he wants you just the same. I hope he's better than me."

The younger boy looked like he was about to protest, his eyes wide as Will shushed him. 

"I mean it, you deserve better, Mike. You always have." Will gave him a tight smile. "And I'm okay, I make it through it all just fine. You don't have to worry about me, okay? Let's just figure out how to get you home." 

The shorter boy sighed, wiping his face once more as a look of disappointment etched into his face like stone. "Okay. I-I want to go home."

Will gave his hand a final squeeze before standing up again, pulling in a deep breath to compose himself. He didn't talk about what happened to him much, it wasn't something he was comfortable with. It felt too fresh, despite the wounds being scarred over and mostly healed, they occasionally opened just enough to bleed him dry of all his progress. He knew he put himself back a few steps, talking about it as if he was really okay. As if he’d actually had the time to process and heal  

He wasn't sure if he was, but what was another lie to get Mike to stop looking at him like he was about to break. He'd shatter himself a million more times to keep him from ever feeling that way. 

He felt everyone’s eyes on him as he stood up, clearing his throat. Before he could get so much as a step away, a small hand tugged on his sleeve again. 

"Will?" Mike voice was steadier this time, his eyes dry and determined as he set his lips in a thin line. A look much too old for a twelve year old to wear, one he knew all too well. 

"Yeah, Mike?"

"I can't imagine a world where I don't want you in my life." He said, his stare unwavering. "You're my best friend and I love you. No matter what. You know that, right?"

The air around them felt thick, Will could feel Mike's stare from across the room as well as a few sharp intakes of breath from, well, he didn't know or care at the moment. 

"I know, Mike." He said quietly,  pulling his arm away and making his way to the front door. "I'm just gonna get some air, okay? I'll be back." He quickly made his way to the front door, making a beeline for Jonathan's car and hiding behind it, sinking to the ground with his back pressed to the cold metal and his knees to his chest. 

He felt wet patches grow on his knees as he pressed his eyes against them, sobs threatening to bubble up with throat. God, he was pathetic, wasn't he?

He wasn't sure how long he sat out there before the tell-tale sign of shoes against gravel alerted him of someone approaching. He didn't bother looking up, even as the intruder sat down beside him. 

"That was a lot."

Mike's voice was soft again, the tone he used with him a million times before. The tone he only used with him. 

"Yeah, well." Will sniffed, lifting his head only enough to rest his chin on his knees. "Everything's a lot today."

"Are you okay?" Mike looked at him, he saw from the corner of his eye. He was trying to meet his gaze, something Will wouldn't let happen.

Will huffed out a laugh, humorless and a bit wet. "I'd say I'm fine, but I feel like you'd call me a liar."

"Will, can we forget the fight for just a minute? Please?" Mike grabbed his shoulder, the touch was like a force of gravity forcing his attention away from the ground to Mike’s face. 

His eyes were damp, a little bloodshot as if he'd been fighting back tears. Guilt boiled deep down in his gut, his stomach churning as Mike gripped his shoulder. 

"Talk to me, Will." Mikes voice shook. "You don't have to tell me why you lied about the painting, okay? Not right now. Just... Just tell me why you pushed me away. Why you're avoiding me like you, like you hate me or something." 

Will felt his breath stutter, his chest tightening as his gaze locked onto Mike's eyes. He'd never seen him so vulnerable, so hurt and confused. It was rivaled only with how his younger self looked just a few minutes ago. 

"I don't hate you." Will said softly, ripping his gaze away to stare at the rocks below his feet. "I don't."

"Then why? After, after everything, why are you ignoring me?" He met his eyes once more, his heart pounding in his ears. This could be it, this could be where Will fixed his mistakes and finally told the truth. "Why, Will?"

"I-" He could do it, he could rip off the bandaid. Fix what he broke. If the younger Mike was telling the truth of not caring about what he did, that he'd always want to be his friend, he could do it. He could tell the truth and they'd move on, he'd get over him someday and everything would be fine. 

But Will was always a coward, wasn't he?

"I don't think we should be friends anymore."

God, he hated himself. 

"What?" Mikes voice came in a broken whisper, hands grabbing for Will's before he tore them away. 

"Think about it, Mike. I dragged you into all of this, whatever's happening right now? My fault. Everything that happened with The Upside Down? My fault. If you weren't my friend, you'd be so much better off! All I do is hurt you and ruin your life and everyone else's!" Will turned his head away, staring at the ground stubbornly. 

"That's such bullshit!" 

"Is it? Because it seems like all the bad stuff happens because I'm around!" Will turned to face him, crossing his arms over his chest. 

"That's not true! Just tell me the truth, Will!" 

"God, Mike, just listen to me! If you knew the truth, you'd hate me!" Will cried, his breaths quickly becoming more and more uneven. 

"You don't get to decide how I feel about you!" Mike threw his hands up in exasperation, his eyes filling with bother frustration and desperation. 

"I can't do this right now, Mike!" Will dropped his head in his hands, willing himself to breath properly. He was ruining everything, every word he said just dug him deeper and deeper as Mikes voice rang in his head. "Stop, just stop... We're just going in circles and, god, just please stop."

"Will..."

"I don't want to talk about this anymore." His voice was wobbly as he pressed his face into his knees. "Please, can we just..."

"Pause?" Mike offered gently. 

"Pause." He repeated. 

Will looked up from his knees, his eyes teary as they met Mikes’s. He was surprised to see him wearing a similar expression, though he couldn't comprehend why.

"God, c'mere." Mike muttered before pulling him into his chest, letting out a shuddery breath as he dipped his head into his shoulder. 

Will stiffened, arms stuck at his sides as Mike pulled him even closer. Slowly he wrapped his arms around him, burying his face in his chest and choking back a sob as he held him tighter. 

"Are you okay?" Mike asked again, a gentle tone lacing his shaking voice. "I know you hate talking about everything, I know it's hard."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay." Will tried to pull back, only for Mikes arms to tighten around him.

"Don't go yet." Mike whispered, his hands clenching around the fabric of Wills sweater. "Please, just...just another minute, okay?"

"Okay." He whispered back, resting his head back on his chest as more tears trailed down his cheeks. 

A million thoughts were racing through his brain, his mind was filled with so many things he could hardly form a coherent thought. 

"You saved me too, you know?" Mike spoke again, his eyes anywhere but Wills. "When you went missing, I lost my mind. When I thought you were dead, I felt like I was dying. Without you, I don't know what I'd do. And then everything that happened with Vecna? You saved me too."

Will sat silently in his arms, willing himself to just stop crying. He cursed himself for not saying anything, but no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't. 

After a while, Mike let go and stood up, wordlessly walking back inside. Ending the temporary truce and leaving Will feeling emptier than ever. 

He stayed by himself for a few more minutes, hands picking at the gravel beneath him as he composed himself. He wished he could be as strong as everyone said he was. As brave. But he wasn't. 

He just wasn't. 

By the time he was standing up to walk back inside, the group was already making their way out. 

Mike, the younger version, made a beeline for him, automatically grabbing his sleeve once he got to his side. "We're going to my house. He says our parents are out for the weekend with Holly and Nancy’s at your house for some reason and it'll be better if we don't freeze to death in your murder cabin."

"I didn't say that." Mike grumbled. "Will gets cold easily and he doesn't like being cold and the cabin is just asking for him to get sick."

"Well, fuck the rest of us I guess." Max snorted, sliding into the front seat of Lucas's car. "Did you kiss and make up then?"

"It's none of your business, Max. And I meant all of us. Will's just the most susceptible to colds, so." Mike rolled his eyes. 

"That doesn't even make sense." Dustin snorted, hoping in the back of Lucas's car. "Make it make sense, Lucas! How is Will more susceptible to colds than us?"

"It's called the Michael Disease." Lucas snickered, climbing into the drivers seat as El slid in beside Dustin. "Meaning Michael is full of shit."

The car full of teens all snickered before pulling away from the cabin, leaving two flushed teens and a twelve year old. 

Mike looked over at Will holding his hand out for the keys from him. "You're not driving again."

"Thank god!" Little Mike cheered, snatching the keys from Wills pocket and throwing them at his older self. "You're riding in the back with me!"

"What happened to shotgun?" Will raised an eyebrow at him, "Thought you only wanted to ride up front?"

"No, I wanted to sit next to you, duh." Mike pulled him by his sleeve into the backseat of the car. 

"Guess I'm the goddamn chauffeur." The older boy grumbled, getting into the drivers seat and starting the car. 

"Right, no tip with that attitude. Now, Maple Street and make it pronto." The younger boy sat back, leaning into Will with a grin, the latter stifling a laugh. 

"Oh, fuck both of you."

Chapter Text

The Wheeler house was warmer than usual, up a few degrees as Mike had fiddled with the thermostat as soon as they'd walked in the door. He then proceeded to throw three blankets at Will upon descending into the basement, muttering something about the 'freezing weather' and why would Will would wear such a flimsy sweater and pajama pants out of the house, despite his own light layers. 

Mike caught a glimpse at his slippers and Will swore he saw a blood vessel pop in his eye as he seemingly fully processed Will for the first time despite spending the better part of the morning with him. Without another word, the taller boy disappeared for five minutes upstairs, coming down with a thick sweater (which he thought his was just fine, thank you very much) and a pair of jeans that were most definitely a little too tight and a lot too long. 

Will didn’t mind though, as he got up and changed in the bathroom, a soft ‘thank you’ followed by a curt nod from the other boy. He couldn’t say he was too upset about wearing Mike’s sweater, especially having missed him over the past few weeks. He pulled it on, breathing in deep as the smell signature to the Wheelers house and Mike in particular surrounded him. He’d be embarrassed about his blatant pining later, no one could see him in the bathroom.

Upon coming out, Mike avoided his eyes and shoved yet another blanket in his arms along with a pair of shoes he knew were probably a size or two too big. He didn’t mind, though. As if he could reject anything Mike gave him.

He'd accepted the blankets quietly, carefully avoiding El's knowing smile as he focused in on whatever tangent Dustin started.

It didn't last long before his mind wandered elsewhere. 

The pause was still fresh on his mind, the way Mike had pulled him into his chest and held him. ‘Don't go yet, just another minute’, he had said, his voice so vulnerable that it hurt. 

He felt his chest tighten again, guilt rushing through his veins icily, the cruelty of it all washing over him like a heavy rain. It wasn't fair, he didn't deserve comfort from Mike. Not when he'd lied to him, hurt him. Not when he felt so much more for him than he knew, a dirty secret that festered down deep within his very being. Something that felt so wholesome and natural, twisting like a dark, evil vine around his heart and squeezing it until there was nothing left. 

He knew Mike was still mad, of course he was. Will had never lied to him before, not even about little things like a dice roll or more serious things, like where all his bruises came from before his father left. Not even when Mike asked if he really thought they'd spend the rest of their lives together, no matter how much it hurt him to admit while knowing he obviously didn't share that same sentiment. 

No, Will never lied. Not to Mike, not if he could help it. Lying by omission hardly counted, concealing feelings that very likely could get him killed in a town like Hawkins didn't count, he told himself that as a comfort. He knew, realistically, that it wasn't a safe truth to share. He knew it when he came back, traumatized and twelve years old, to crudely whispered conspiracies when they thought he couldn't hear. Or maybe they just didn't care if he did. He heard the things people would do to people like him, do to him for simply existing. Things his own father did to him for existing, without even a confirmation of what Will was. Just suspicion was enough for most. 

So, he kept his mouth shut, avoided questions of crushes and girlfriends with an air of casual disinterest, as though he just didn't have the time rather than out of fear for his own safety. 

But he never lied. 

He cursed himself for ever making that painting. For ever thinking it would be a good idea. A glance spared to Mike proved to make him feel worse, as he found the boys eyes already on him, thinly veiled concern mixed with curiosity. The moment their eyes met, he looked away just as quickly, not missing the disappointment that appeared on the other boy’s face. 

He really hated himself sometimes. 

He was brought out of his thoughts by El,  leaning her head on Will’s shoulder and yawning. "I'm still mad that you woke me up so early."

"You didn't have to get up, El." Will said forcing a small smile onto his face, nudging her in the ribs gently. "Maybe you wouldn't be so tired if you didn't steal my Supercom and use it to talk to Max all night. You owe me new batteries, by the way." 

El mock glared at him, whacking him with a pillow. "I owe you nothing because you lied about baby Mike. Payback is a bitch. Right, Max?"

"She's right, Byers." Max shrugged, snatching a blanket from his lap. "Friends don't lie."

Will smiled a bit, shaking his head. "Geez, fine. I'll get my own batteries. Just ask next time." He ruffled her hair a bit, laughing when she pushed his hand away. 

A tug on his sleeve brought his attention to his other side, a red faced, pre-pubescent Mike Wheeler stared daggers back at him. 

"Quit flirting." He grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. "It's gross."

Will blanched, his jaw dropping before incredulous laughter bubbled up from his chest. "She's my sister, Mike."

"You don't have a sister, you have a brother." He argued, pointing at him accusingly. "Jonathan? Is this Jonathan? She doesn't look like Jonathan."

"Oh my god, it's the Jennifer Hayes debacle all over again." Dustin whispered loudly to Lucas who snorted. 

"She's not even that pretty!" Both Mike's all but shouted at him. 

The older Mike gawked at his younger self before huffing, rolling his eyes. "Besides, what a crybaby! Right? I mean, obviously she was faking it! She hardly even knew Will and was crying at his funeral? Sounds like someone wanted attention. She never even talked to him and she had the nerve to whine and cry at his funeral."

"The nerve?" Max cackled, shaking her head. "Oh how dare she cry at a twelve year olds funeral?"

"Why would you bring that up?" Will hissed, glaring at the shorter boy who only laughed harder. 

"At least they finally agreed on something!" Dustin grinned, leaning over El and Will to get into Mike's space. "Ask Will here how you know El." He grinned even as Will pushed him back into the couch. 

"Quit it! Weren't you the one who complained about how we were going to screw up the space time continuum like ten minutes ago?" Will rolled his eyes, sighing when Mike pulled his sleeve again. "No. No way. I'm not telling you."

"Tell me!" He whined, pressing further into Will's side. 

"That was before! Besides, he's never even seen Back To The Future!" Dustin crossed his arms. 

"Because it doesn't come out for two more years for him, Dustin!" Will argued, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

El looked at them, confused. "He does not know we dated?"

"He does now." The older Mike sighs as the shock plasters itself on his younger self's face. 

"No way!! No! Gross!" The smaller boy practically screeched, pushing off of Will with a scrunched up expression. 

"Oh my god," Will covered his face with his hands as Mike launched into a fit of 'ew', 'yuck' and several more 'grosses'. "Calm down, it's fine. You'll change your mind in like a month." 

"No I will not! Girls are gross." He huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "Why would you let me date her?"

Lucas and Dustin cackled, Max joining them as older Mike rolled his eyes, El watching with mild amusement. 

"I'm not your keeper, Mike." Will shook his head. "Besides, why would I care?"

"Why would you— Because I'm best friend! Because...because... That's apparently your sister!" Mike threw his hands up in exasperation, climbing to his feet to pace around the basement. 

"I'm not her keeper either." Will looked to El, who was giggling behind her hand. "Besides, she wasn't even my sister yet."

"What...What does that mean?!" He covered his face with his hands. "I'm so confused!"

"Aw, Will, you broke him!" Lucas chuckled, reaching over to dig an elbow in his ribs. 

"Dustin broke him." Will glared at both boys, who remained entirely too amused. 

The youngest boy collapsed into one of the chairs by the table, covering his face with his hands.

"We breakup, Mike." El spoke up again, looking throughly unimpressed. "Multiple times, but now for good. I dumped your ass."

"You dump me?!" 

Will shared a glance with the older Mike, the taller boys face was flushed and pinched in annoyance. 

"Of course she dumped you, asshole." Will said, crossing his arms. "You just yelled 'ew' in her face for the past five minutes."

The younger boy blanched, staring at Will as if he'd slapped him. "You... You called me an asshole!"

"That's because you're being an asshole." His older self rolled his eyes, stealing the spot he'd abandoned next to Will. "Now shut up about this so we can get you back to wherever the hell you came from and I can go back to bed."

"It's already noon, you're going back to bed at noon?" Lucas cocked an eyebrow at him, to which he scoffed. 

"Yeah, someone woke me up at the ass crack of dawn." Mike huffed, leaning back into the couch and pointedly looking at Will. 

"It was after eight, Mike." He sighed, pointedly not looking at Mike. He spoke up again before Mike could argue, "You're right though, we need to get him back as soon as we can. Or at least figure out how he got here."

"Okay," Lucas furrowed his eyebrows, looking at the smaller Mike curiously. "But who knows anything about potential time travel? I mean, if this has nothing to do with the Upside Down, then we're dealing with an all new kind of science here."

"I don't suppose you're hiding a flux capacitor under your bed, Byers?" Dustin looked to Will, whose eyes brightened just a little, a small smile pulling at his lips. 

"Wait, I know where we need to go." He said , looking to the older Party members. "Remember Mr. Clarke?"

—

"This is a bad idea, Will. He's going to recognize him!" Mike whispered anxiously. "He looks just like me."

Both Mike’s and Will stood in Mr. Clarke’s driveway, bickering quietly about the half-baked plan to get some information from their old science teacher. Will knew he’d played a part in understanding the Upside Down, so chances were, he’d know something useful. They’d split from the rest of the party, the other half deciding to head to the library in order to check out as many books on the theory of general relativity as they could. Mike refused to go, for whatever reason, stating that it’d be ‘stupid for Will to go alone’. 

Will decided not to read into things. 

"Gee, wonder why." Will looked behind him to see Mike fixing him with an unimpressed glare. "Mike, it's fine. I have a plan."

"We should leave him in the car. How’s that for a plan?” Mike crossed his arms, leaning against Mr. Clarke’s garage. 

"Isn't that like, child abuse?" Will raised his eyebrow, watching the other boy sigh exasperatedly. 

"I was the child, I don't care. You have my blessing to leave him in the car all damn day." 

"I'm right here." The younger boy huffed, crossing his arms. "Will’s idea is good. I’d go with that."

"He hasn't even told us his plan yet, jackass." Mike glared at him, the smaller boy mirroring his expression immediately. 

"Yeah, well, Will's smart and you're stupid, dumbass." 

"You’re such a suck up!"

“Shut up, no I’m not!”

“Guys!” Will scolded quietly, scowling at them impatiently. “Stop arguing and listen.”

Both boys jaws snapped shut as their attention turned to Will. They even had the decency to look sheepish, like scolded children. Which, he supposed they were. 

“Mike, this is your cousin. He’s visiting from out of town for the weekend and needed help with some homework, Mr. Clarke should have some theories about time travel. If not, he’ll definitely have books that can help us. Just say your class is studying the theory of general relativity, specifically time travel.”

“Why can’t we just do that?” Mike asked skeptically, Will sighing to himself. 

“We’re taking chemistry right now, Mike, something Mr. Clarke could easily find out if he sees through us. An out of state middle schooler doing a passion project won’t raise a red flag to him, we’d  do this all the time when when we were kids.” Will pointed out, watching with no small amount of satisfaction when Mike’s skepticism melted away into mild reluctance and understanding. 

“Fine, you’re right.”

“Told you so.” The younger Mike chirped, a grin on his face. 

“Can it.” The taller boy grumbled. “Let’s get this over with, yeah?”

Will put up a hand, giving them both a stern look. “No arguing. No being jerks to each other. Be nice or Mr. Clarke will see right through us.”

Both boys shared a look, heaving heavy sighs before nodding reluctantly. 

“Best behavior, I promise.” The younger boy grinned up at him. 

“Okay, fine. Scouts honor.” Mike said sarcastically, crossing his arms as they made their way to the front door. 

Will raised a reluctant first, knocking hesitantly as the three boys waited anxiously at the door. 

After a minute or so, the door swung open to reveal the other man, a smile quickly replacing his initial confused expression. 

“Will! Mike!” He grinned at them, friendliness practically radiating off of the man. “Good to see you, boys! How are you? Sorry, I don’t think I’ve met you.” He looked at the youngest boy, who fixed him with a grin. 

“I’m Mike-”

“Elangelo!” Will quickly corrected, a polite and slightly panicked smile on his face. “Michelangelo!”

“He’s my cousin! My aunt and uncle are French!” Mike added, earning an elbow from Will. 

“Italian.” Will corrected through a strained smile. “They’re Italian.”

“Big art fans.” Little Mike added, for good measure.

Mr. Clarke furrowed his eyebrows a bit, confusion evident on his face, yet his smile staying just as friendly. “Right, nice to meet you, Michelangelo.”

“You too!” Mike shook his hand with a grin. 

“Was there something I could do for you?” Mr. Clarke looked at the older boys, who shared a nervous look. 

“Well, Michelangelo needed some help with a science question.” Will looked to Mike, who nodded enthusiastically. 

“Yeah, yeah! You know, curiosity doors and what not. He’s on a real journey, Mr. Clarke. A journey to figure out time travel.” The taller boy grinned, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “And you? You’re the key to all the knowledge we, uh, he needs.”

Mr. Clarke looked between the boys, all three smiling a bit too wide to be normal before chuckling. “Alright, how can I say no to such curious minds? Come on in, let’s bust out some theories.”

The boys shared a grin before stepping in the door, hoping to god they actually get some semblance of an answer. 

Chapter Text

Several different books were littered around Mr. Clarke's dining room table, all open and skewed haphazardly as the man watched the three boys sitting across from him. 

His eyes dropped down to the twelve year old gripping onto Wills arm before smiling curiously at Will.

"You said this is for a science project?" He asked, looking over to a less-than-thrilled Mike on the other side of Will, who had been huffing and puffing ever since his 'cousin' leaned even closer to Will. "It's, well, it's a bit complex for the seventh grade."

"Michelangelo is a genius." Will blurted out, eyes a bit wide. He heard a tiny snort from the smaller boy beside him, who quickly hid his face in his arm to hide his laugh. A near silent grumble came from his other side. "He goes to a genius school! He's really shy about it, but he's just...a genius. Um, we didn't really know how to do the project by ourselves 'cause it's so complex, you know. That's why we had to come to you, you're just...bursting with knowledge, Mr. Clarke."

"Oh." Mr. Clarke raised his eyebrows in surprise, looking more than flattered. "Well, thank you, Will. You boys have always been good with science, very curious minds. I'm glad to see you're still together."

"Together?!" Mike squeaked, breaking his self made vow of silence. Will elbowed him in the side, throwing him a look that screamed 'what the hell' before smiling at their old teacher.

"What Mike means is that we're better friends than ever. Like, um, how could we not still be friends?" Will tried to cover, earning a questioning look from the older man. He kicked the other boy under the table who immediately kicked him back with a scowl, immediately melting when Will gave him a pleading look.

"Well, I heard you had moved to California a while back, I had hoped that you boys would still be friends even with that distance. All four of you, I mean." He clarified, looking back down at the book in front of him. "But especially you two, I'm glad to see you two together again."

The words made his chest feel warm for just a moment, before he felt himself cracking all over again. It was a ruse to get information, that's all. Mike and Will were not okay. It was nothing but a temporary amends, a bandaid placed over a gaping wound that might never heal.

"Me too." Mike spoke again, his voice gentler this time. He turned his gaze over to the boy, his breath catching as he found him staring back. 

It didn't mean anything, Mike was still mad at him. He would still hate him if he found out the truth. 

He just really wished Mike would stop looking at him like that.

"Well, anyways," Mr. Clarke moved on, oblivious to all the inner turmoil he just unknowingly caused. (Thanks, Scott.) "Theory says it is possible, Einstein said time and motion are relative, and basically that everything is happening all at once. The past, present, and future, that is."

"Hypothetically," Will began slowly, glancing at the younger boy beside him. "If someone were to accidentally time travel to the future, how could they get back?"

"You mean, if someone accidentally discovered time travel and successfully did it...on accident?" Mr. Clarke asked thoughtfully, though not unkindly.

"Uh, yeah. Like, just did it. No machine or effort. Just woke up in the future." Mike clarified, sitting up a little straighter. "Hypothetically, of course."

"Of course." Mr. Clarke chuckled, flicking through another book. "Well, boys, I just don't think that's very likely. Unless they had superpowers." He joked, the two older boys sharing a nervous glance before forcing a laugh.

"Right, superpowers." Will said weakly. 

"Yeah, if only those existed." Mike laughed nervously. "Funny."

"Hilarious." Will glanced at him, both boys practically squirming in their seats.

Little Mike rolled his eyes, leaning forward on the table and promptly ignoring the two teens to his right. "Okay, so it's not possible. That theory is wrong then?" He asked, a bit of annoyance lacing his tone. 

"The theory, well, is just that. A theory. It could be decades, centuries, before we understand it enough to successfully achieve time travel. Definitely not in my lifetime, maybe not even in yours." Mr. Clarke frowned. "And accidental time travel, I'm sorry if that's the basis of your project, but it's practically, if not entirely, impossible."

Wills face fell, a weird sense of numbness filling his chest. What if they couldn't send Mike back? What if he was stuck here forever? Why did he not feel as upset about that as he should? What was wrong with him?

He hated himself for the thought, but having Mike so close again was almost nice. How much he cared about Will and how he could read him so well again. It was like a part of his life that had died was coming back to him and as much as he hated to admit it, he almost wasn't ready to lose it again.

It wasn't fair, the way he was feeling. He knew, realistically, that having the younger version of Mike in his life didn't fill the gap left by the ever growing distance between Mike and himself. He knew it was yet another temporary fix, just a reminder of the past. Of back when Mike was his. When Will was Mikes first choice instead of a whisper of an afterthought. His hands clenched into fists, a wave of exhaustion hitting him as he tried to push the thoughts away.

Guilt creeped up on him as the last question echoed in his mind, the light above their heads flickering just as Mr. Clarke frowned at him.

"Are you okay, Will? Your nose is-"

Panic crawled up his throat as he immediately looked to Mike, the other boys face lit up with understanding.

"Shit, we have to go." Mike grabbed his arm and pulled him up and towards the front door, not bothering to check to see if his younger self was following. "Thanks for everything, Mr. Clarke! Sorry!"

"Boys?" Their teacher watched with wide eyes, dumbfounded in his seat as the door slammed. He didn't know why he was surprised, it was Will and Mike after all. He smiled a little to himself, shaking his head. It was much like Mike to get so worried over Will getting a bloody nose from the dry, autumn air.

"Young love." Scott muttered to himself with a smile, moving to shut all of the books.

—

The second they were outside, Mike was grabbing at Wills face, his eyebrows knitted together, questions flying out of his mouth at an almost impressive speed.

"I'm fine, Mike." Will pushed his hand away from his face. "Please, let's just find the others and figure this out."

"You're not fine! The lights and your nose, what's going on?" The taller boy reached up again, grabbing Wills chin to tilt it up. The blood was now smeared, but the flow had stopped. "What happened? Are you hurt?"

"Nothing!" Will pushed his hand away again, a scowl on his face. "I didn't do anything. I don't know what happened."

"I didn't say you did anything!" Mike reached out again, this time getting his arm grabbed tightly.

"He said to stop!" The younger boy glared up at him, not letting go.

"Will." Mike pulled his arm away, ignoring the younger boy glaring up at him. "Will, come on. Talk to me"

"I don't know, Mike." Wills voice shook, eyes begging for Mike to believe him. "I just want this to be over, okay? Can we focus on that? Please?"

And he does. He does want this to be over, he wants Mike to go back to his time, he wants the tension between himself and his Mike to go away, he wants the guilt gnawing at his stomach to fucking stop. He just wants it to be over.

But when has Will ever gotten what he wants? When has anything in his life ever been easy?

God, he was exhausted.

Mike looked conflicted, his expression softening before nodding and heading to the car, standing at the passenger door and staring at the other boy.

Will watched him with a confused frown, his head tilted to the side. "Am I driving?"

Mike rolled his eyes, throwing open the door and pointedly motioning for him to get in.

"Oh." Will stared up at him for a moment, his eyes dropping to his feet as he got in the car. His face did not flush, he'd argue until he's blue in the face.

Mike shut the door, walking around to get into the drivers seat. He pointedly ignored the annoyed expression of his younger self as he used a water bottle to wet a napkin, handing it to Will to wipe his nose.

"Well, screw me I guess." He grumbled, throwing open the back door and climbing in. "Not gonna wear a seatbelt so when this moron crashes the car, maybe I'll fly through the windshield and end my suffering."

Will turned in his seat, a disbelieving look on his face. "What the hell, Mike?"

"Put on your seatbelt or I'll end your suffering myself, you little shit." Mike glared at him in the review.

"Oh, I'd like to see you try!" The younger boy leaned up on the center console. "Your arms are like pipe cleaners and you get winded walking ten feet."

"Hey!" 

"Oh my god." Will leaned back in his seat, shutting his eyes as he heaved a sigh. "Put your seatbelt on or we're not going anywhere."

The younger boy pursed his lips before falling back in the seat and pulling his seatbelt on aggressively.

Mike smirked to himself before starting the car, pulling out of the driveway and heading back towards his house. 

Will leaned his head against the window, staring out at the trees passing by before shutting his eyes.

"I'm hungry." Mike whined from the backseat.

"Did I ask?"

"Mike. He's twelve, we can't not feed him." Will sighed, opening his eyes.

"Can we get burgers at Benny's? God, I'm starving!" Mike leaned forward, looking between the two teens. "Pretty please?"

"Uh," Will and Mike shared a look.

"What? Did he go out of business?" Little Mike frowned.

"Something like that." Mike said.

"Aw shit, did the monster get Benny?" The little boys eyes widened, tugging on his seatbelt to lurch forward. His older self reaching back to push him away.

"No, Mike. The monster did not get Benny. Some bad lady shot him, but don't bring that up to El." Will sighed.

"El shot him?!"

"Oh my god." Mike let out a loud groan, dropping his head to the steering wheel as Will rubbed a hand over his face. "Can we drop him off somewhere? Just send him to an orphanage? Do they still have orphanages?"

"No, no, and probably but still no." Will looked back with a frown. "There's food at the house, Mike. We'll make you something."

"I don't want that food though." Mike whined again, falling back into his seat with a huff.

"You don't even know what it is!" Mike grumbled, hitting the brakes just a little too hard. "Besides, do you have money? How're you gonna pay for it?"

Will stifled a laugh, a snort escaping him.

"What's so funny?" Mike scowled.

"Mike, you sound like your mom." Will laughed, not bothering to stifle it this time. When Mikes jaw dropped, it only made him laugh harder.

"What?! I do not!" Mike argued incredulously, stopping for way too long at a stop sign. "Stop laughing at me! I don't sound like my mom!"

"You do!" Will threw his head back, practically cackling at this point. The sound of giggling floated up from the back. "I'm sorry," Will chuckled, wiping tears from his eyes. "I'm sorry, but it's true." 

Mike pursed his lips together, fighting back a grin. Will could tell he wanted to laugh, as stubborn as he was.

"Alright," Mike gave up the fight, a grin pulling at his lips. "Who wants McDonald's?”

—

The closest McDonald's was just outside of town, a forty-five minute drive east of Hawkins.

They were a strange sight, really. Two sixteen year old boys with a mouthy twelve year old in tow, though the tension seemed to dissipate as the drive went on.

"Can I get a milkshake?" Mike (the little one) asked, pulling at Wills sleeve for the millionth time as they walked into the restaurant.

Will nodded, smiling down at him before making his way to the counter where a teenage girl was working the register.

"Welcome to McDonald's," She smiled at Will, her eyes dropping down before coming back up to meet his eyes. "What can I get for you?" She leaned across the counter a bit, her eyes focused only on him.

"Oh, uh," Will glanced back at Mike for a moment before smiling politely at her. "Hi, um, can we get three cheese burgers with fries, please?"

The girl nodded, glancing at the other two before focusing back on Will, grinning wider. "Any drinks with that?"

"Um,"

"One Coke, two 7-Up’s, and two chocolate milkshakes and a vanilla one. Thanks." Mike cut him off, seemingly entering a one-sided glaring match with her.

"Okay." She scoffed at him, quickly putting in the order before smiling back at Will. "Can I get your name?"

"Mike." Mike said flatly, his arms crossed over his chest.

"I wasn't talking to you, buddy." She rolled her eyes. "Total is $10.58."

Will smiled sheepishly, pulling out his wallet to grab out his money. Before he could so much as pull out a dollar, Mike (older) slammed some crumpled up bills on the counter, along with a few coins.

"Keep the change, buddy." He grumbled, a sour look on his face.

The girl sighed, counting the cash before looking back at the taller boy.

"You're a dollar short, Mike." She deadpanned, drawing a snort from Will.

"Shit." Mike muttered, digging through his pockets with a scowl.

Will sighed as he pulled out a dollar and handed it to her. "Sorry. Thank you."

She looked between the two scowling boys on each of his sides. "My brothers are overprotective too."

"We're not brothers!" Mike said incredulously, unjust offense lacing his tone.

"My name's Lauren." She ignored him, quickly filling up their drinks. "Maybe stop by sometime again. Alone."

"Oh, um-"

"Not interested, thanks." Little Mike snatched the drinks from her, handing two of them to his older self before grabbing Wills sleeve and pulling him to a booth farthest from the register.

"Okay, why did you guys do that?" Will say down across from the taller boy, the youngest climbing in beside him.

"I've never met a Lauren who wasn't a bitch, we saved you the trouble. Trust me." Mike crossed his arms, huffing yet again.

"Oh, wow thank you. How brave and noble of you to save me from the dark evils of customer service." Will said sarcastically as he rolled his eyes. "She was being nice."

"She was flirting with you." The younger Mike huffed. "Right in front of us, it was disgusting."

"It was." Mike agreed, stabbing a straw into his lid. "She was batting her eyelashes and leaning into you and- it was just so..."

"Pathetic? Stupid? Desperate? Gross?" Little Mike offered, his older self nodding enthusiastically.

"You're both mean." Will rolled his eyes, sipping his coke. "She was being nice because she works in a restaurant and she had to."

"Look at the side of your cup." Mike yanked the cup out of his hand, pushing it in his face.

Will sighed.

Her number was written on the side, followed by a little note that said 'call me ;)'. 

"Oh." He said lamely.

"Oh." The other two boys mocked before glaring at each other.

Before he could say anything else, she round the corner with a tray of their food and shakes, setting it down with a sweet smile directed at him.

He sank down in his seat a little, face flushed.

"Thank you." He said quietly, avoiding her eyes as she sighed, dropping the rest of the food off to the others.

"Enjoy." She said dully, shooting Will one last smile before rushing back up front.

"We will!" Little Mike called out, Will elbowing him with a chastising hush.

They ate in relatively comfortable silence until Will apparently did the unspeakable. — He dipped his fry in his milkshake.

"That's so gross, Will." Little Mike whined beside him.

"That's disgusting, that's like, blasphemous. That's unnatural." Mike shot him a disgusted look, his nose wrinkled and upturned.

"You can't say it's gross if you haven't even tried it." Will rolled his eyes, dipping another fry. "Try before you deny." He mocked, chuckling when Mike went beet red.

"Oh, you asshole." Mike snorted, grabbing a fry and dipping it. "This is for you, brochacho."

Will laughed, watching Mike put the fry in his mouth, a smug smile when his face twisted in annoyance.

"You like it, don't you?" Will leaned into the table, resting his chin in his hand with a smirk, looking over at him lazily with a half-lidded gaze. "Don't deny it, Mike, I see right through you."

What he didn't expect, however; was for Mikes face to turn bright red or for him to start sputtering and choking on said fry.

"Mike? Are you okay?" He asked, watching him with a mix of concern and confusion.

"I, uh, oh..." Mike wiped his mouth, laughing nervously. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine. It's good, you were right. I like it. Yeah, it's really good."

"Oh..." The younger boy beside him uttered softly, as if coming to some sort of realization. "Oh."

"What?" Will looked at him, finding the little boys face to be just as red as Mikes, staring at him as if he'd never seen him before.

"I have to pee." The twelve year old shot out of his seat and hustled to the bathroom, his older version shooting up directly after him and following with a rushed 'me too'.

Weird.

After that, they were nearly silent for the rest of their meal, the car ride filled with even more tension than before.

Will went over the past hour countless times, trying and failing to figure out exactly where he went wrong.

By the time they pulled into the driveway, he still found himself confused with not one, but two Mikes avoiding his gaze like the bubonic plague. 

Perfect.

Chapter Text

The moment they stepped into the basement, they were met with four glares. 

Great. Just great.

"What the hell, guys? It's five, we agreed to meet back here at two." Dustin immediately hounded them, aggressively tapping his watch before crossing his arms. "We even stopped by Mr. Clarke's and you weren't there and he said Will got a nosebleed and you dragged him out of the house like a crazy person!"

Mike glared at him for a moment before he grumbled something or another before running back up the stairs, his younger self stumbling behind him as he made to quickly follow him. 

So much for not making things weird.

"You lost your leech, Byers." Lucas snorted, watching the younger boy trip before booking it out the basement door. 

"Come on, he's not a leech." Will rolled his eyes. "He's just scared, he's twelve. I was the first person he saw so he just...latched on, I guess."

He's met with several looks of disbelief and a smirk from El. 

"I haven't seen him more than two feet away from you this entire time. Plus, Mike at twelve was scared of two things, beetles and when you went missing." Dustin helpfully pointed out, looking to Lucas. "Dumbass jumped off a cliff with less hesitation than flicking a beetle off his arm."

"Wait, Mike jumped off a cliff?" Will asked, surprised, looking to his friends and then to Dustin specifically, who gave a sheepish grin. 

"Ask him, not me." He shrugged. 

"What the hell is up with them anyways?" Max interjected as she leaned back into the chair, crossing her arms. "What happened?"

"It was a dead end. It's nothing, they're probably just stressed." Will sighed, sinking into the couch as El settled beside him, a concerned look on her face. "Everything was mostly fine, but then... I don't know, I guess it wasn't? They've been weird for the past hour."

"Mr. Clarke seemed a little worried," Lucas frowned, settling next to him as he glanced at where the two boys retreated up the stairs. "Are you okay?"

It was a pretty loaded question. Is he okay? Short answer: no, no he's not. Will could count on one hand his many times he's been 'okay' in the past month. So right now? Absolutely not. He felt exhaustion settling deep in his bones, his head was killing him, guilt from lying to his family was consuming half his body, and Mike was upset with him again. This time, he didn't even know why. And, on top of everything, his stupid mind wouldn't stop fucking with the lights. 

So, no. Will was far, far from okay. 

"Yeah, yeah. I'm good, I just..." Will sighed, frustrated as he stared down at his hands. Lying wasn't going to help him now. "I hate when I can't control it. It's been months since Vecna, I shouldn't be making lights flicker or having nosebleeds just because I'm a little upset over something."

Dustin settled on his other side, practically squishing El into the couch, letting out a big sigh before throwing his arm around his shoulders. "Months is hardly enough time to adjust to superpowers, dude. You're a scientific anomaly who discovered he could do shit with his mind mid-fucking-battle with an asshole who stole your childhood, you're allowed to take your time figuring things out. Besides, you made lights flicker with your mind, dude! That's badass!"

"It's bitchin'." El commented, pushing herself up between Dustin and Will, grabbing his hand after shoving the other boy to the end of the couch. "It will take time, we talked about this."

"I know, I just..." Will sighed, shifting uncomfortably. "I hate not being in control of what I do, of my mind. It makes it feel like he's still in there, in my head."

"He's dead, Will." Max assured from her spot in the chair across from them, her face softened as she looked at him and spoke in a gentler voice. "He's not controlling you, he can't control you anymore. You killed him, he can't hurt you anymore."

"I know that." He said, unable to hide the frustration in his voice. "I know he's dead, I can't feel him like I could before but I feel so tired all the time like-like I've been using my pow- them non-stop. My nose keeps bleeding, just a little, but it won't stop no matter what I do and I'm just so fucking tired and-"

When he looks up, his stomach drops as the basement lights flickered around him. Everyone is staring at him, unabashed concern etched on their faces. He felt his face heat up as alarm bells went off in his head, he said too much. He's worried them again, he's putting too much on them again, and now they're all going to either hate him or go back to treating him like he was made of glass. 

"I'm sorry, god, sorry! It's fine, I'm fine! I'm just being dramatic." His gaze dropped down to his lap. "I'm sorry, this is so stupid. I'm hardly the one who should be complaining right now. There's more important stuff going on and-"

"Stop, you're probably the one who deserves to complain the most." Lucas glanced back towards the steps before resting a hand on his shoulder. "This isn't all on you, man, you're not alone in this. Doesn't matter if it's upside down related, or some other weird inter-dimensional phenomenon, or even if it's just some random fluke. We're all here for you, okay?"

"But-"

"Will." El interrupted him, her eyebrows raised in warning. It reminded him a bit of their mom, no doubt she'd picked up the mannerism from the older woman. "If I was having trouble with my powers, would you be upset with me?"

"What? No! No, of course not!" He answered immediately, frowning at his sister. 

"Then why would we be upset with you?" She questioned, and reasonably, he knew she was right. He knew she had a point, that he shouldn't be tearing himself apart over this. 

Unfortunately, he wasn't feeling very reasonable. 

"Because I'm making everything worse! Mike's mad because I lied, I can't control myself so everyone has to cover for me, and this thing with Mike, the other Mike, I can't even figure it out on my own! You shouldn't have to help me! You shouldn't have to deal with this anymore." He looks up at El, feeling his stomach twisting miserably. "You were just getting to move on from all of this, just getting to finally be normal and I'm screwing it all up."

El gave him a sad smile, taking his hand gently before squeezing it, just like his mom and Jonathan would do when he got upset. 

"Will, I already told you that I don't mind. We don't have to help you and we don't have to deal with it. We don't have to do anything, Will. We want to. Friends are people you do anything for, we would do anything for you. I would do anything for you. I don't care about being normal, I care about you." El placed a hand on his shoulder, staring back at him with such sincerity it hurt. "You would do the same thing for me."

He felt the tears burning behind his eyes, his chest feeling warm and a little looser where he previously felt like he was being squeezed to death. He would though, do the same for her, that is. 

"I-" Will practically choked out, his eyes locked on his sister until a creak of the stairs tore his attention away. 

"What's wrong?"

The small chorus of voices made the teens heads snap up towards the stairs, their eyes landing on both Mikes frozen at the bottom of the steps with twin looks of concern on their faces. 

"What happened? Are you hurt? Why is your nose is bleeding again?" The older Mike shot off questions, long legs striding over to him in seemingly less than three steps. "Will?"

The youngest, also Mike, shoved away at Lucas for the spot next to him, immediately grabbing his face. 

"It looks fresh, why's it fresh? Are you sick? You look pale. Why are the bags under your eyes so dark?" The smaller boy rattled off questions just as fast as his older counterpart. Will almost felt like he could throw up as he pushed his hands away. 

"Stop, I'm fine, Mike-"

"Dude, get off me." Lucas groaned as the younger boy simply spared him a glare before looking back at both Mike's. "Leave him be, he said he's fine."

"Obviously he's not fine, what the hell did you do to him?" Mike shot accusatory looks at Lucas, Max, and Dustin. 

Max glared in his direction, crossing her arms over her chest. "We didn't do anything, genius, you're the ones acting like assholes for no reason. We actually stayed with him."

"Guys..." Will tried, quickly cut off by the twelve year olds higher pitched voice. 

"Who even asked you?" He scowled, "Why are you even here?"

"Because Will's my friend too, jackass!"

"We're all friends, guys, let's just calm it down." Dustin tried to interject, his hands raised placatingly in front of his chest.  Both Mikes heads snapped to him, twin glares on their faces. 

"Really? Then why does he look so much worse than he did ten fucking minutes ago? Did you even notice?" Mike was practically foaming at the mouth, glaring as Lucas stood up and shot him an unimpressed look. 

"What? Of course we noticed!" Dustin gaped, offense clearly taking hold of his expression. 

"Mike, seriously?" Lucas rolled his eyes. "Come on, man, we were talking. It's been a long day-"

"Talking? About what? Why were you suddenly talking as soon as I left the room?" Mike was huffing now, the moment was reminiscent of two summers when Mike had convinced himself Max and El were conspiring against him. 

Will knew this could get out of hand fast, Mike was hotheaded at times and Lucas rarely backed down from a fight, something Will was not in the mood to deal with. 

"Mike, please just stop." Will tried again, El shooting him a worried look as he felt more panic rising in his throat. 

"Mike, maybe you should calm down." El suggested softly as she gripped Will's hand, frustration bubbled up in his chest as he blatantly ignored both them. 

"Why am I the only one who cares about Will?!" Mike practically exploded, his younger self glowering at them from behind him with his arms crossed. "He looks like he's about to pass out and you guys are all sitting around talking?!"

Will clenched his free hand into a fist, biting his lip hard enough to draw blood as he tried desperately to calm himself down. He felt frustration clawing it's way up his chest and into his throat, his head buzzing and throbbing as he swallowed it down. The lamp flickered unsteadily as he felt warmth trail down his upper lip. He only felt worse now. 

"Oh for fuck's sake, it's Halloween all over again!" Max rolled her eyes. 

"That's so unfair, man! We all care about Will!" Lucas argued, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "We weren't the ones to run away from him as soon as you got back!"

"You don't even know what you're talking about!!" Mike yelled back, his face now burning red as he glared at Lucas, the two boys practically nose to nose as the lights began to burn brighter around them. 

"Neither do you!!" Lucas bit back, his hands balled into fists at his side. 

"Stop!!" Will shot up from the couch, the bulb from the table beside him bursting with a loud crack. "If you really cared about me, you wouldn't be acting like this!" He roughly wiped away the trickle of blood flowing from his nose as he stood up unsteadily. "Either of you." He glared at both Mike's and Lucas. 

"Will-" Mike reached out to steady him, only to be met with a swat to the hand. Lucas immediately looked guilty, hanging his head from where he stood and backing down. 

"No! If you were down here, you'd know they were helping me." Will felt El come up behind him, a steadying hand on his arm. "We aren't the ones acting weird, you are."

"Will, I'm sorry-"

"Save it, I'm going home. I'll see you tomorrow." Will linked his arm with Els, the smaller girl glaring at Mike as they passed by to the stairs. He glanced back and gave the younger Mike an annoyed look. "Come on, you too."

The boy blinked in surprise, quickly following them with his head hung like a chastised puppy, tail between his legs. 

"You can't go." Mike quickly made his way in front of them, crossing his arms. "Hopper and your mom will see him."

"I'll take my chances." Will tried to pass him, Mike only side stepping in his way again. 

"You can't lie." Mike said, staring down at him. "You're a bad liar."

"Yeah, well," Will looked up at him, saying words he knew he was going to regret. "You believed me, didn't you?"

Mike’s face fell, staring at him open mouth as the three shoved past him and up the stairs, leaving him to gape at their retreating forms. 

"That's what you get for being an asshole, Mike. You pissed him off." Max stood up, glaring in his direction. "He was finally talking to us."

"Oh..."

"Yeah, thanks a lot, man." Lucas rolled his eyes, already guiding Max to the stairs as Dustin followed behind. 

"You messed up, man." Dustin frowned at him before glancing back to the now-shattered lamp. "Like, really messed up. Just, let everyone cool down. It really has been a long day." He said, clapping him on the shoulder before trailing up the stairs. 

Mike stood in his basement watching as his friends retreated up the stairs and away from him before collapsing back on the couch, hiding his face in his hands. 

He knew he was being unreasonable, he knew he was in the wrong and he shouldn't have yelled or picked a fight with Lucas and everyone else. God, he knew it. 

But his chest was tight, his brain fogged up with feelings he couldn't even begin express. Feelings he didn't know how to express. He looked at Will, his tired eyes and blood trickling from his nose and his mind went blank, every cell in his body thrown into overdrive screaming to do something to not be so completely and utterly useless for once in his life. To help, to hold, to protect the one thing in his life he couldn't lose again. 

But his brain screamed to hold back, don't show to much, don't reveal everything. Snap, snarl, and sneer at everyone around, bite back at the helpful hands reaching out to him like an injured animal and licking his wounds only when everyone finally left him. 

It wasn't fair, not to him and certainly not to Will. He knew it, he always knew it. 

Now he just had to get over himself and make it up to Will, fix this for good this time. Get him back and finally, finally keep him. 

—

The drive home was slow and silent, though he felt every worried glance from El and every guilty stare from Mike. 

He didn't mean to explode on everyone, really. His hands were still shaking and his eyes, though dry, were burning as he pulled into their driveway and shut off the car. 

"I'm going inside and you're climbing through the window." Will said simply, pulling the keys out of the ignition. "We'll figure everything else out from there."

"Will?" Mike leaned forward in his seat, big round eyes boring into the side of his face. 

He sighed, turning to look at the younger boy. He raised his eyebrows motioning for him to go on. Watching as he swallowed back nerves, his eyes softened. It wasn't fair the hold Mike had on him even as a kid. He knew he never stood a chance, staying mad at Mike was like telling the sun not to burn or the wind not to blow. 

Stupid and impossible. 

"I'm sorry. I know you don't like yelling. We... I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry." Mike looked down at his lap, twisting his hands together. "I didn't mean to run away either. I don't think he did either. I...I'm a little confused and, um, I think I realized something a little weird. Not bad weird, but not... well, it's good but not good at the same time because it's really confusing and could really ruin my whole life and his life and your life and I just didn't take it too well and older me isn't taking it well either so he's stressed and I'm stressed and you're stressed too but over entirely different and more important things and you look really tired and I hate seeing you like that 'cause the last time I saw you so tired and upset and hurt was when your dad was around and, oh god, why did I bring up your dad? Oh god, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! About that and about everything and-"

"Mike, hey, breathe." Will turned around fully, putting a hand on his shoulder and watching him with a slight smile. "It's okay, really. It's not your fault, okay?"

"It's not yours either!" Mike immediately argued and El shot him a knowing smile that made him sink into his seat. "It's not..."

"I know," Will sighed, "None of this is anyone's fault."

"It's big Mike’s fault."

"Big Mike." El snickered from the front seat. 

"Ugh, please don't call him big Mike." Will rolled his eyes, as El laughed again. He felt his lips pull up into a small smile, Mikes shoulders loosening under his hand as he allowed himself a tiny grin. 

"Well, let's get inside before they see us," Will said, moving to turn around when a sharp knock on the window made his whole body freeze. 

Shit.

Turning slowly in his seat, he was met with four unamused faces staring back at him, Hopper was at the front with his hand raised and finger pointed downward as he motioned for him to roll down the window as his mom, Jonathan, and Nancy stood behind him. 

Hesitantly, Will did as he was told. 

"You wanna explain what's going on here, kid?" He asked gruffly, his mom frowning confusedly beside him. 

"Uh, well, since you're not in uniform or in your car, I'm not technically pulled over, right?" Will attempted to joke, the man's eyebrows raising immediately as he heard El stifle a laugh followed by a loud snort from Mike. 

"Thin ice, kid." He glanced at the backseat for a moment before doing a double, then triple take. "Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me."

"Mike's scared of fish." Will blurted his eyes wide and darting between his family (plus Nancy) and Mike. "I lied, and um, I'm sorry."

"I'm not scared of them! They're just weird, Will!" Mike whined from the backseat. "You said you wouldn't tell anyone." He grumbled as El giggled to herself.

"Scared of fish." She laughed. "You're stupid."

"You're stupid!" Mike countered, glaring at the teenage girl as she laughed again. 

"Hey!" Hopper shouted, the three kids jumping at the volume before staring at him. "Not only did you lie, drive without a license, and hide something serious from us-" He listed in an annoyed tone. 

"Hop, calm down." Joyce sighed, shooting Will a sad look. "Baby, why didn't you just tell us?"

Will looked to Jonathan who was cringing a little at him. 'You're on your own', his look seemed to say. Nancy, on the other hand, cleared her throat. 

"Why don't we go inside and talk? They look like they've had a pretty long day." She looked back at her (extra) little brother and tried to blink the surprise off her face. "Will, I'm sure you've got a good explanation?"

"Uh," Will glanced at his family's questioning looks before smiling sheepishly. "Yeah, I think I do."

—

Two hours later, Will was sat on his couch sandwiched between El, who gripped his hand like he was going to blow out the whole towns power grid, and Mike, who had such a tight hold on his sleeve that he was surprised it wasn't ripping at the seams. 

"You told Scott Clarke before you told us?" Hopper blanched, a little red in the face. "Your middle school science teacher?"

"Hop, let it go." Joyce rolled her eyes. "He did help figure out the magnet things."

"Oh, yeah, he's a real genius." The older man scoffed, crossing his arms as Will sighed. 

What was his deal with Mr. Clarke anyways?

"No, me and Mike took Mike to ask him if accidental time travel was possible. He thought Mike was Mike’s cousin." Will explained, for what felt like the seventieth time.

"That's...confusing." Jonathan frowned, glancing at little Mike who hadn't stopped glowering at Hopper since he got out of the car. 

"I don't get why it's any of your business, old man. Why are you even here? We don't need a dumb cop anyways, what do you know about any of this?" He screwed up his face, his head tilted up in a petulant manner. "Do you even know what time travel is?"

"Excuse me-"

"Seriously, Will! Why is the chief of police in your house? Why was he here this morning?" Mike interrupted, turning to face Will with an annoyed (yet, still softened) look. 

"He's married to my mom, Mike." Will sighed, watching his family observing them so closely made him a little uncomfortable. Like they could see right through him, like he was doing something wrong. "He's my stepdad."

"Right, and El is really your sister." Mike snorted. "You think I'm really that stupid?"

Sometimes, he thought, he really did wish he could just put him outside for a little while. 

"She is!" Will said exasperatedly, pinching the bridge of his nose. "And you are."

"It's been like this all day." El had the nerve to look amused, shooting her family a little grin. "He thinks I am Will's girlfriend."

Nancy snorted, her hand flying up to her face as everyone turned to look at her. "Sorry, sorry! I just, I forgot how overly jealous Mike used to get about Will. He hides it better now, at least."

"He's not jealous!"

"I'm not jealous!"

Will and Mike swing their heads around to stare at each other, Mike’s face flushed and Will’s twisted in confusion before shaking his head. 

"What would he even be jealous about? He's the one that dated her and I don't even like-" Will cut himself off quickly, his eyes shooting to Jonathan in a panicked expression. 

"Uh!" Jonathan perked up, cleaning his throat loudly. "It's getting really late and like they said, it's been a long day."

"Jonathan, it's only seven-thirty." Joyce frowned, looking to her youngest son and cupping his face with one hand, a wet tissue she had managed to grab moments ago in her other. "Baby, you look exhausted. Are you hungry? Do you want to lay down?"

She wiped under his nose, her face soft even though he knew she was upset he lied. 

"I think I'll lay down for a while, if that's okay." He leaned into her hand a little before she pulled him into a hug, holding him to her tightly. 

"I'm sorry I made you feel like you couldn't tell me." She whispered into his shoulder, her arms holding him tight enough to where he could just barely breathe. 

Somehow, he knew she didn't just mean about what was happening with Mike, his stomach knotting up as he wrapped his arms around his mom and took in a shaky breath. 

"Thank you," He whispered back, burying his face in her hair. "Thank you."

He’d process…all of that later, when he wasn’t on the verge of a mental breakdown.

She pulled back, giving him a watery smile as she cupped his cheek again. "Go lay down, baby, we can talk in the morning."

He nodded, returning her smile before standing up a little unsteadily. His family watching him with unbridled concern as Hopper clapped a hand on his shoulder. 

"I trust you, kid, just be a little more careful, okay?" He looked down at him, squeezing his shoulder. "Get some rest, we'll get this figured out."

"Thanks, Hopper." Will shot him a small smile. "Sorry for lying and everything. I didn't want to I just-"

"I know," He waved him off. "I know. No more joyrides though, especially not with your sister in the car. Deal?"

Will cringed a little as El came up beside him, a steadying hand on his shoulder. "Deal."

His stepdad shot him another smile before him and his mom trailed out of the room probably to go to bed themselves even if it was a little early to actually sleep, Nancy and Jonathan shooting him twin looks of concern before heading outside, likely so Nancy could go home. 

He felt a twinge of guilt, as this was their weekend home from college and now he was ruining it by having yet another problem that was quickly dissolving into a group problem. He pushed the thought away, think of Els words from earlier, his mom’s hugs, Hoppers hand on his shoulder, and Mike’s voice asking him not to go, begging for another minute. 

Maybe he was wrong, maybe they did want him. Maybe, just maybe, he didn’t have to do this alone. 

He felt a tug on his sleeve before looking down to see two big brown eyes staring up at him. 

"Can I sleep in your room tonight?"

Will sighed, nodding as he let himself be pulled towards his bedroom, El hot on their heels. 

“I’m staying in here tonight too.” She said, shooting Mike a look. “You get the sleeping bag.”

“Hey! That’s not fair! I’m his best friend!” Mike wined, crossing his arm. “I get best friend privileges!”

“I get sister privileges and best friend privileges.” She smirked, claiming up on the bed as Will practically collapsed on it, not even bothering to do more than kick off his (Mike’s) shoes. 

“Will! Tell her!” Mike huffed, standing at the edge of the bed as Will snorted. 

“Sister privileges trump best friend privileges when also paired with best friend privileges.” He waved a hand, his eyes falling shut. “Sorry, it’s in the rulebook.”

“I wrote the rulebook!” Mike complained as he laid down on the crumpled up sleeping bag. “Stupid sisters.”

El giggled, curling in close to look at him, a knowing smirk on her face. “Told you he was jealous.” She whispered and he rolled his eyes. 

This was gonna be a long night.

Chapter Text

A light tapping on the window stirred him from his sleep. He blinked blearily as he glanced at the clock, first noticing it was just a quarter past one in the morning. 

The second thing he noticed was a hand gripping his ankle, connecting to a tiny arm and body lying on the floor. He stared down at him for a moment, head tilted to the side as he watched the smaller boy shift closer.

Another tap ripped him from his thoughts, making him swing his head over to the fogged up glass, just barely visible past his curtains.

Confused, he gently pried Mikes hand off of his leg, setting his arm down slow and gently as he attempted to get out of bed without waking El up. No one wanted to be on the other end of waking her up before she was ready, he'd made the mistake a few times and just barely lived to regret it as several very hard objects were flown at his head.

Once his feet hit the floor, he made his way across the room to his window, opening it slowly and frowning at the boy in front of him.

"Mike, it's one in the morning." He whispered, leaning out the window on his elbows as he tiredly reached up to rub his head, causing his hair to become even more disheveled. "What're you doing here? Did you bike here by yourself? Are you insane?"

Mike stared up at him, eyes wide and mouth agape as Will waiting for him to answer. It became clear he wasn't getting one when Mike went an entire minute and a half without blinking.

"Mike?" He waved a hand in front of his face, the taller boy finally blinking back into reality, his eyes jumping from his hair to his eyes to his...nose? Under his nose? What the hell?

"Why was he holding your ankle?" Mike blurted, eyes darting from Will to the boy slumped on the floor.

"How long were you looking in my window?" Will cocked an eyebrow at him, watching the other boys face glow red in the soft glow of the moon.

"That's a, ha, that's a question, huh?" Mike cleared his throat. "Wanna come out?"

"Excuse me?" His sleep addled mind prickled with icy panic. 

"Outside! Wanna come outside? Um, of your window? Into the dirt? What else would I mean?" Mike laughed nervously as Will gawked at him.

"Into the dirt?" Will repeated, his sleep hazed mind just barely keeping up with the stammering boy in front of him. "Are you high?"

"No! Will, jesus, please just get out here so we don't get a lamp thrown at us by El." Mike grabbed his hand, pulling him out of the window as Will steadied himself the best he could before hopping down into the grass with a frown.

"I have no shoes." He stated petulantly, crossing his arms over his chest and pushing back the urge to shiver at the cold air.

"Do you want mine?" Mike leaned against the house, already pulling off his shoes when Will pushed his foot down.

"No. My socks are wet now, I'll just get yours all dirty and gross." He huffed, not even mad about his socks but not willing to let him know that.

"They don't look nearly as gross as my vomit green ones." Mike tried to joke, his arms awkwardly hanging at his sides now.

Will gave him an annoyed look, crossing his arms. "That joke wasn't funny the first time around."

"Come on! You always laugh at my jokes!" Mike practically whined. He wasn't wrong, Will was a weak, weak man when it came to Mike Wheeler. But, alas, he was also a petty little shit.

"Not when you wake me up in the middle of the night and drag me out of my window." Will huffed, motioning to his still very open window. 

"I didn't drag you." Mike said incredulously. "I just assisted you down, like a gentleman."

"Okay, sure. I'm going back to bed, Mr. Gentleman." Will turned, already climbing back up into his window when he felt himself getting yanked back, a yelp falling from his lips only to get stifled by a hand over his mouth.

He turned around, his cheeks burning for approximately a thousand different reasons.

"Mike, what the hell?" He hissed, crossing his arms as he managed to glower up at his (best?) friend.

"You were running away again." Mike huffed, "What was I supposed to do?"

"Not grab me like a serial killer?!" He glared, not even really knowing why he was fighting Mike so hard right now. The sooner Mike got whatever he wanted to say out, the sooner Will could go the fuck back to sleep.

"A serial killer?! Come on, look at you! You could flick me and I'd probably drop dead!" Mike scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Will tried desperately to catch up to the conversation, his head swimming with exhaustion and confusion and a little bit of the stupid love sickness that tears its head whenever his dumbass best friend is around.

Not that it's Mike's fault, but it kind of is.

"You got buff!"

Will let out a surprised snort, blinking out of his thoughts as he stared at the flushed boy standing in front of him. Sure, he wasn't literal skin and bones like he was when he was twelve, but he wasn't buff.

"I did not!"

He wasn't sure how they got there or what happened, but he couldn't help the laughter that bubbled up in his chest. Leave it to Mike to make him laugh when he's supposed to be mad. He couldn't find it in himself to care when he heard Mike chuckling beside him. He couldn't even bring himself to be mildly annoyed.

"You did, and taller too. I mean, just look at you." Mike's voice was softer as he turned towards him, his side now resting against the house instead of his back. He gazed down at Will with an expression that made him simultaneously feel taller than every building in Hawkins yet smaller than a flea. The silence stretching on for a moment, both boys unable to avert their eyes.

"Hey." He smiled, sounding almost a little breathless.

Will's stomach twisted again, this time flipping in a way that wasn't entirely unpleasant. He couldn't help but smile back at him.

"Hi." He replied, his fingers twisting in the hem of his (Mike's, mortifyingly so as he never bothered changing) sweater. Their eyes locked for another moment before Will ripped his gaze away, clearing his throat. Right, he was losing focus. "So, um, what're you really doing here?"

Mike seemed to snap out of whatever trance he was in, his eyes widening a bit before his hand raised up to rub the back of his neck bashfully. Will wasn't going to look into that, he wasn't. 

"Well, I kind of couldn't sleep. Normally, I'd radio you to talk but El killed your radio and I wasn't sure you'd even want to talk to me after I was being such a douchebag today-“

"You weren't a douchebag." Will frowned, his eyes flicking up to meet Mikes, whose softened immediately. Any leftover annoyance he held towards the boy, which was next to none at this point, melted in an instant.

Damn him, really.

"I was, I am." Mike sighed, swallowing before shoving his hands in his pockets. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry. Today, it's been weird. This past month has just been, well, it's sucked. I told you before, Hawkins isn't the same without you. That goes for when you're avoiding me too."

"Mike-"

"Wait, just... I know you're not ready to talk about the painting and I promised myself I wasn't gonna push you again." Mike shifted on his feet again, running a hand over his face, his gaze dropping to his shoes before continuing. "I just, I wanted to see you. Just you. Not the party, not...well, me. You. For just a minute, 'cause I know you're really tired and you've had a really shitty day. And I wanted apologize for ruining things again and for making you upset and god, everything. I just, I missed you."

Warmth flooded his chest, a soft smile pulling at his lips as he leaned his shoulder against the cold siding of his house. He tilted his head a little to the side. "You came all the way to my house in the middle of the night because you missed me?" He asked softly, unable to take his eyes off him this time.

Mike’s face flushed, a warm pink glow high on his cheeks as he shoved his hands in his pockets, lifting his gaze to meet Will's again. He couldn't help but let his own gaze fall to the sweet smile now lighting up the other boys face.

"Well, yeah, of course I did." Mike said, his voice still so gentle and quiet. It was meant just for him, the tone resonating deep within Will's chest and wrapping his heart like a blanket guarding mercifully against the cold October night.

Mike leaned just a little closer, his eyes locked on Will's. "Will, I actually wanted to tell you-"

"Mike, what the hell are you doing here?"

Both boys jumped, turning to face the window in the opposite direction to see Jonathan and Nancy poking their heads out of Jonathan's bedroom window. Looks like she didn't go home after all. 

"If Hopper finds out you're here, he's gonna kill you." Jonathan yawned, rubbing his eyes. "You know that, right?"

"Well then don't tell him, Jonathan." Mike replied snidely, his face screwing up in annoyance.

"I'm just saying, he's got like six guns in his closet." He looked to Will, his eyebrow raised in question as the mortification set in deep in Will's chest. It was one of those rare moments Will hated that Jonathan knew.

"Five minutes, okay? Then he'll go home." Will practically begged his brother with his eyes, holding back a groan when his brother smirked.

"Sure, Will. I'm sure he's gonna go home-"

Mike perked up, his tone incredulous when he said, "What's that supposed to mean-?"

"Mike." Will grabbed his shoulder, turning his attention off of his brother. Thankfully, Mike has always been pretty easy to redirect.

For him, at least. 

"I'm gonna kill your brother." Mike grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest as both of their siblings stifled laughs behind him. "I'm killing them both."

Will sighed, turning to give his brother the best 'please go away' look he could muster. Jonathan, the saint he was, finally muttered something to Nancy, who grinned like a shark at her own brother before casting them a wave and disappearing back into the house.

"Don't stay out too long and please don't wake up mom and Hopper. I really don't want him to shoot you." Jonathan said, already moving to follow his girlfriend inside.

"We're not waking Hop and mom, Jonathan." Will rolled his eyes, ignoring the sounds of the two older teens laughing at them as he covered his face with his hands.

"They're the worst." Mike grumbled, his face even more flushed than before. God, he must've been freezing.

"Yeah, they are." Will looked up at him before dropping his gaze to the ground nervously. "It's, uh, pretty late."

"Oh," Mikes eyes widened. "Right, um, yeah. I should get home then, I'll just, um, go home-"

"No!" Will blurted before his brain could catch up with him, his face flushing as his eyes found Mike’s confused ones. "I-I mean, it's so late and it's cold and you really shouldn't be biking back by yourself. It's, um, dark... So, yeah."

"Yeah?" Mike's eyebrows rose, watching Will as he sputtered.

"Do you wanna like, come inside?" Will shuffled his feet, his gaze following as Mike did the same.

Mike gaped at him for a moment before a grin split his face. "Are you asking me to stay over?"

"For your safety." Will swallowed. "You know, cause it's...dark." He repeated lamely, rubbing the back of his neck as Mike breathed out a little laugh.

"Right, yeah." Mike said, and Will didn't have to look to hear the smile in his voice. "I mean, it is dark."

"Yeah, a-and really cold." Will added, Mike's smile only widening.

"Freezing cold." He agreed, his eyes meeting Will's once more. "Looks like I have no choice then, huh?"

"Yeah, no, looks you're stuck with me tonight." Will finally looked up, finding himself a little breathless from the smile that he was met with.

God, who gave him the right to be so beautiful?

"Yeah, well, there's no one else I'd rather be stuck with." Mike grinned, leaning into bump their shoulders.

Will laughed, rolling his eyes a little. It was cheesy, yeah, but it was Mike. He'd given him butterflies saying much lamer things before.

"I guess we should go inside then-"

"Will?"

He looked up to see little Mike standing at the window, bleary eyed and holding his lamp in a really inefficient fight pose.

He sighed heavily. For a moment, he'd almost forgotten how fucked everything was.

"Mike, why are you holding my lamp?" He asked, his voice as level as he could make it. Part of him kind of wanted to push him out the window, something he's sure Mike would approve of. The other part of him figured that'd be a little too mean.

Plus, it was still Mike.

"Well, I woke up and you were gone and the window was open so I thought, 'oh no, robbers and kidnappers came and snatched you' and I had to go and find you and...and I panicked, okay?! What are you doing outside? Where are your shoes? Do you want to get pneumonia again?" The smaller boy rambled from the window, peering down at them grumpily.

"Wait, you were going to fight a robber and a kidnapper with my lamp?" Will asked, unable to keep the amusement out of his voice. "And I haven't had pneumonia in like, eight years."

"I panicked!!" The twelve year old whined. "And that wasn't that long ago for me!! My Will has a cold right now!!"

Will had to bite back a smile, because that was actually kind of endearing.

"Dumbass." Mike snorted, crossing his arms. Will groaned internally. It was too late for this.

"Oh, it's you. I was wondering why it stank so bad." The younger boy cocked an unimpressed eyebrow at the teen.

"Isn't past your bedtime?" Mike deadpanned, staring back at his younger self with a look Will was sure would explode his head if he had mind powers.

Mike blanched, dropping the lamp to the floor. "You know I don't have a bedtime!!” His face screwed up before he spat, “Well, I better call the nursing home, tell them that your old ass escaped!"

"I'm sixteen, you dumb shit!"

"Huh? Couldn't hear you over the squealing of your hearing aid!"

"Guys, let's not wake my whole family? Please?" Will sighed, glancing at Mike who was still glaring at the child in the window.

"Whatever, I can't sleep now anyways, since you decided to give me a heart attack. Picture this: Mike Wheeler, dead at twelve years old, cause of death? My best friend frolicking in the woods at two in the morning and giving me a stroke!" The boy slammed his hands down on the windowsill.

"Stroke and heart attack are two different things, moron." Mike rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I wasn’t frolicking!" Will sputtered, looking to the older Mike who looked just as fed up as he felt.

"Yeah, whatever. Are you coming back to bed now?" Mike leaned out the window more, his face losing its scrunch when he spoke softer. "Please? It's really cold out."

Will sighed, losing his resolve immediately. This shit was so unfair it wasn't even funny. "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming."

He made his way to the window, starting to climb up before looking over his shoulder and smiling softly at Mike, whose annoyance slipped off his face to return it.

"You can tell me later, yeah?" Will lowered his voice, watching as Mikes cheeks tinged pink once more, looking away bashfully for just a moment before meeting his eyes again.

"Yeah," Mike smiled softly, a stark contrast of his previous glare. "Yeah, I think will."

Will turned back around, biting back a grin as he climbed through the window before turning around and offering a hand to him. 

Mike smirked a little, taking it and letting Will pull him up. "Told you that you were buff."

Will snorted, rolling his eyes. "Shut up." 

"Oh, brother, he's coming in too?" Little Mike huffed, already sitting back on the pile of blankets he'd woken up in that morning. "I'm not sharing my blankets."

"Fine, he'll sleep in my bed and I'll take the floor with no blankets." Will turned to look at him blankly. 

The younger boy stared at him, mouth agape as Will stared back challengingly. 

Mike grumbled, glaring at his older self. "You get two blankets. If you steal anymore, I'll kill you in your sleep."

Mike looked at Will and snorted before snatching the blankets from the younger boy, pushing him by his head and making him fall back onto his pillow and he squawked indignantly.

"Hey! Will, he pushed me!" Mike sat up, looking to Will who shrugged, biting back a smirk.

"You literally just threatened to kill him, I say justified." Will climbed into bed, carefully avoiding bumping into his sister. "Now go to sleep."

"Everyone go to sleep or I will kill you all." El grumbled into her pillow.

"The jury's spoken, ha." Mike announced, smirking at his younger self. "Fuck you."

"Mike. Sleep." Will rolled over, burying his face in the pillow.

Both boys grumbled their good nights, letting the room fall into a comfortable silence.

Until...

"Can we build a pillow fort?"

"I'm going to kill you." El grunts from the bed, fixing the younger boy with a withering glare.

"She'll do it." Older Mike snorts. 

"I'm killing you first." El lifted her head, glaring at them both as their pillows lifted from the floor and flew into their faces.

"Hey!" Both boys glared at her.

"Wasn't me." El smirked, looking to Will who wiped his nose with a huff.

"Go to sleep." He grumbled, rolling away from them before adding, "Please."

Both Mike's gaped at Will's back, sharing a glance before lying down.

"Someone corrupted him." The younger boy huffed, pulling his blanket over his shoulders.

"You make me wish I was never born." Mike stared at him for a minute before rolling over to his side.

After what felt like hours, Will still couldn't fall asleep. He felt the trickle of blood coming from his nose, his bedside lamp (now plugged back in and back where it belonged) flickered ever so slightly, making him curl up in himself. He let out a shaky breath as another wave of exhaustion washed over him, rolling onto his back and staring up at his blank ceiling.

"I remember when you got pneumonia."

The whisper was so quiet, Will would've thought he'd imagined it had he not looked down to see gentle brown eyes staring back at him.

Mike smiled slightly before resting his cheek in his palm, his elbow propping his head up. "It was a week after you and Jonathan built Castle Byers and your mom wouldn't let me in to see you. You didn't come to school that Monday, so I wanted to check on you and she said that you were sick and that she'd let me know when you were feeling better, that I could come over then."

Mike chuckled a little, looking up at him with an unreadable expression. "But I didn't wanna wait so I snuck out that night and biked all the way to your house at like, one in the morning."

The irony of it all wasn't lost on him.

Will watched him shift on the floor, moving up to a sitting position. He couldn't help the smile that was pulling at his lips, or the way his chest filled with so much warmth that he could survive a week in the cold, frozen woods outside. (again)

"God, you looked so sick. You were pretty out of it too. I remember your mom saying that your fever spiked to like over a hundred and three degrees and you would be awake for maybe five minutes at a time." Mike tilted his head a bit, a gentle smile still pulled at his lips. "But I climbed into your window and you were lecturing me about how dangerous it was to be out alone at night and how cold it was and asking me if I was okay and just...being so you, you know?"

"Well, it was dangerous." Will whispered in a weak defense, his cheeks flushing ever so slightly at his friends words. He wasn’t reading into it, he wouldn’t do that to himself again. He was being nice, platonic. Everyone reminisces with their best friends like this, everyone looks at their best friends like that.

Right?

"Yeah, well, it was worth it then and it was worth it now." Mike dropped his eyes to his lap, fiddling with the hem of his sweater. "Remember the book we read that night?"

"The book of Aesops fables." Will smiled softly, resting his chin in his hand. "We liked the one, The Frogs Who Wished For A King?"

"Yeah, that was your favorite." Mike looked up, his eyes shining in the dim moonlight that managed to slip past his half-opened curtains and bathe his bedroom in a soft glow. "It was mine too."

"It was so morbid." Will laughed, shaking his head. "All the frogs got eaten and we'd laugh at the part where they get gobbled up."

"If he didn't want us to laugh, he shouldn't have put the word 'gobble'." Mike snorted, his smile only brightening. "I remember your frog pillow too. The one I got you for your ninth birthday. I'd always sleep on it."

"I still have it." Will whispered, sitting up a little. "It's, um, it's under my bed I think." He knew it was there, he couldn’t bring himself to sleep with it anymore, but having it close was almost like having Mike himself close again. 

Mike's face softened a little, his smile dropping into an indecipherable expression. He'd been doing that a lot lately, Will noticed.

"You kept it?" He asked, somehow even his whisper was more gentle. "Even after I... You still kept it?"

"Of course," Will said easily, his eyes locked on Mike's. It felt different this time, like they were on the precipice of something new. Something better. "It was from you."

Mike's smile widened. Despite his tired eyes, he was radiant, glowing in the dim lit room like the sun. His hair was messy and he was wearing the same clothes he'd been wearing all day, but Will couldn't help but think he was the most beautiful boy he'd ever seen. That he'd ever see.

"I," Mike started, cutting himself off with the flush of his cheeks and a smile almost too big for his face. He almost looked shy as his head dipped down. "Will, I just... You're my best friend, you know that? I know things have been weird lately and we've been weird but you're still my best friend. You always have been. Just because of, well everything that's been happening, that doesn't mean you mean any less to me. I'm sorry I made you feel that way. I'm sorry I made you think you weren't my best friend anymore. You're like my favorite person, so obviously you're my best friend."

Will watched him for a moment, the sincerity dripping from his words like morning dew off the grass outside. He meant every word, he could tell. Mike had his faults, they all did, but he'd never lie to him. Not about this.

"You're my best friend too." Will replied softly, finally tearing his gaze away when Mike's face brightened. "I don't know if you're my favorite though, I mean, have you met Lucas?"

"Oh, shut up!" Mike laughed quietly, reaching under his bed and grabbing the frog before tossing it at his head.

Will caught it, lobbing it back in Mikes face with a quiet laugh. "I'm just kidding! Come on, you know you're my favorite."

"Yeah?"

"Of course."

Mike watched him for a moment, ducking his head almost bashfully. Will felt his heart flutter as he sighed.

"You know, you're impossible to stay mad at." Will laid back, his gaze still on the boy in front of his bed.

"Have you met yourself?"

"You could stay mad at me."

"Not possible."

They shared a smile, dim lit yet bright. An understanding settling between them, hope pounding unfairly in Will's chest. It would be okay, if only to lull him back into a warm and restful sleep. He'd let himself hope, dream of a mutual feeling. Dream of the hope becoming reality, of being enough.

"Goodnight, Will." Mike whispered softly into the quiet of his bedroom.

"Goodnight, Mike."

Just for the night, Will would let himself believe that it would all be okay.

Chapter Text

It wasn't all okay.

The morning came, sun streaming in blindingly, illuminating the small pool of dried blood on his pillow where his head was resting throughout the night. The previous days exhaustion washed over him again as he groaned quietly, lifting his head off the pillow only to be met with a sharp pain in his head causing him to fall back into his (gross) pillow. 

"Will?" 

Will cracked open an eye, two sets of brown, concerned eyes meeting him immediately.

"Hm? 'M fine." Will dragged himself upward, sitting up in the bed as El wordlessly stepped into the room with a wet washcloth. "What?"

"You blew the fuses or flipped the breaker, mom and dad were downstairs fixing it." She said softly, her face pulled into what he knew she thought was neutrality, but could only be described as a grimace. "I don't know how you didn't wake up, your lamp exploded right by your head."

Will took the warm rag, dragging it across his face with a groan. "I liked that lamp."

"I already stole Jonathan's lightbulb, don't worry." El gave him a small grin that didn't quite reach her eyes as she tilted her head toward the lamp, the warm light flickering to life.

He'd have to go to Melvald's to get him a new one later. Once he wasn't harboring the twelve year old version of his almost/kind of/maybe (not? Who knows?) best friend. It was all too confusing and his head felt like he'd spilt it open with an icepick. 

"Will, what was that?" Mike, the older one, asked hesitantly, barely attempted to school his concerned expression. "You didn't even wake up, the whole house was lit up for like ten minutes."

"You turned on the microwave too." Little Mike added oh-so-helpfully as Mike and El shot him an annoyed look. "What? He did! You're gonna look at me and say it wasn't cool? He was like a freaking X-Man."

"Oh my god, you do ever shut up?" Mike grumbled, glaring down at his younger self. 

"Do you?!" The younger boy shot back with a matching glare as El and Will groaned in annoyance as his head throbbed. 

"Will." El turned her attention back to him, her eyebrows raised. "What happened?"

Watching as three sets of eyes stared back at him, he dropped the bloody washcloth onto his nightstand and let out a sigh, shaking his head as he spoke quietly. "I don't know. I really — I don't know."

"We need to figure this out, Will. I don't want you to hurt yourself...or anyone else." El frowned, shifting her weight from on foot to the other as she worried the hem of her sleep shirt. "It is getting worse, Will, it's getting dangerous."

"You think don't know that?" He bit back, frowning when her face fell. The guilt won over, as he quickly backtracked. "I'm sorry, I know. It's just, it's early and I'm exhausted."

Little Mike frowned, crossing his arms. "You got like, nine hours of sleep. How are you still tired?"

"Maybe because mind powers drain your energy, dipshit?" Mike scoffed, rolling his eyes as his younger self huffed. 

"Oh, like I'm supposed to just know that?"

"It's obvious! I guessed that the first time it happened to El years ago! What, am I supposed to be an idiot in your universe?"

"Stop fighting." El glared at them, crossing her arms in a very 'Joyce Byers-esque' fashion. "You're both being idiots. I want to help my brother, so if you have nothing helpful to say, I will kick you out of house and make Max punch you both in the throat."

"Please stop. I really don't want to talk about this right now." Will groaned, rubbing his head before reaching over and digging through his nightstand. 

The headaches had been frequent, something that was more of a nuisance than anything. He pulled the bottle of ibuprofen out of his drawer, pouring three into his hand before dumping them in his mouth and swallowing. By the time he put the bottle back and looked up, he was met with two horrified looks along with a small frown from El. 

"Your head is still bothering you?" She asked, her voice gentle.

"Off and on. Hurts pretty bad this morning." Will pressed the heels of his palm to his eyes, letting out a breath. "I'm fine, though."

"How long has this been going on? Why didn't you say anything?" Mike immediately questioned, his eyebrows furrowed as he scooted closer onto the bed. 

"When would I have said anything, Mike. We weren't talking." It was obviously the wrong thing to say, he knew it the moment it came out of his mouth. He knew it even more when the other boy nearly flinched, the telltale look of wanting to say something equally as hurtful came and disappeared in the blink of an eye. He saw through him, he always did. He knew Will wasn't being malicious, he just always knew. A wordless apology passed between them, Mike's eyes softening as if to grant him forgiveness. As if to say all was well and forgotten. An unspoken renewal of the pause, an extension for the time being, something he was eternally thankful for. 

"I'm here now." He said instead, a warm hand resting on top of his own. "I'm here."

Despite the pounding of his head and the incessant fatigue that plagued his body, he almost felt okay in that moment. Eyes locked together and soft smiles shared in the late morning sun that crept through his curtains. It was grounding, the feeling of his hand enveloping his own. Like a promise, an oath that he wouldn't leave again. That things would be okay. 

And Will may be a fool, because through and through, he'd believe anything that Mike said. 

"Lucas, Max, and Dustin are on their way." El's voice broke shattered the moment, thankfully. Will wasn't sure he could handle any more prolonged eye contact. "Dustin called on the radio this morning, he said he has a theory."

Thank god for Dustin Henderson.

"I better get dressed then." He said as he climbed out of bed, making his way to his closet. He caught Mike shooting him one last look before slipping into the hall. 

"Did you see that?" He heard Mike's younger self grumble to El, who ran a hand over her face as they followed Mike's older self. "They stared at each other for like two minutes and ignored us the whole time."

"You are bad at telling time." El muttered to him and Will had to hold back a snort when he heard both of the Mike begin to argue with her. 

__

After he'd thrown on new clothes and provided both Mike's with borrowed clothes (funny on little Mike, who ended up having to wear a pair of El's pants and well, big Mike in his sweater had him wishing the Demogorgon had eaten his entire head off so no one could see how red his cheeks were), they sat down at the table for a late breakfast. 

The party, much to Hoppers dismay, joined them after a few minutes. 

Crowded around the table, discussing loudly the problem at hand as Will did his best not to either A: pass out at the table, or B: snap at everyone to shut up before his head exploded. 

God, he loved them all but they were so goddamn loud sometimes.

"I woke up next to him, his nose was bleeding and the lights were all on and bright. The lightbulb had shattered and he just...didn't wake up." El explained, looking up from her plate. "It was not normal."

"He turned on the microwave." Little Mike repeated, earning a glare from El and a sharp elbow from his older self. 

"Shut up about the fucking microwave." Mike hissed as Will dropped his head in his hands. 

“It was cool!” The twelve year old huffed. “You shut up.”

"Wait...You willingly slept in the same bed as Will? You're brave, El. A brave, brave girl." Lucas shook his head, a tiny smirk on his face. "Never again, for me. He's the worst person to share a bed with."

Will looked up from his hands, already fighting a smile as Lucas attempted to defuse some of the tension building up in the room. They needed to focus on the problem, really, but it was all making his head swim. The look on Lucas's face said he got it, offering a distraction even just for a moment. 

Thank god for Lucas Sinclair.

"Oh my god, Lucas! It was one time and I said I was sorry like million times." Will snorted, his friends faces all twisting in confusion. 

"I'm sorry, what? What happened?" Mike perked up, watching as Dustin snorted and shook his head. "When did you guys share a bed? You never told me that! When?"

"Don't you have a girlfriend now?" Little Mike looked at Max, who had her eyebrows raised and smirked back at both boys. How she knew exactly where they were was a mystery to him.

"What's that have to do with anything, Michael?" She asked the younger boy, an unreadable gleam in her cloudy blue eyes.

Their faces both reddened, Mike turning to glare at the younger boy before muttering something to him that made him sit up a little straighter and mutter an apology. 

Weird, but whatever. His head hurt too bad to care about whatever they were bickering about anyway. That's when Dustin spoke up. 

"Oh man, you didn't tell him?" Dustin was damn near giggling behind his hand.

Lucas shot him a look as if it were ludicrous that he'd even ask, like telling Mike would be a bad idea. "It was when your family went on that vacation right before sixth grade. Will's mom dropped him off to sleep over, but he dropped his sleeping bag in a puddle on the way up the driveway so he slept in my bed with me."

"What? You didn't have an extra? You always have an extra!" Mike furrowed his eyebrows, opening his mouth to argue more when Max wacked him with her cane.

"Oh my god, Wheeler! Get over it, it's been five years." Max snorted, motioning Lucas to continue as Will groaned. 

"Lucas, do you have to tell them?" He looked to his best friend who only smiled wider. 

"Sorry, man, I've kept my silence for far too long." Lucas chuckled, looking to both Mike's with a sly smirk as they watched him with matching looks of annoyance. 

"Anyways," Lucas shot them a look before he continued, "Dustin called dibs on my extra 'cause Mews peed on his. So we go to bed and this kid, tiny as hell, star-fished across the bed, which was fine until like three am rolled around and he gasps real loud and scared the shit out of me. I look over to make sure he's okay and not dying in his sleep, and he's already facing me and sleeping peacefully so I go to roll over and this guy, with his eyes closed, whispers 'he's coming for you, Lucas' and rolls over like nothing!! I almost shit myself!"

"I'm sorry!" Will laughed, covering his face as everyone chuckled around him. "My mom took me to watch Poltergeist the night before!"

"I swear to god, I didn't sleep a wink that night and you woke up all smiley and happy telling me and Dustin about how we had to convince my parents to go see Poltergeist again and how it was the best movie ever." Lucas laughed, shaking his head. "He even hatched a plan on how to sneak in if they said no."

"Will!" Joyce covered her mouth as she laughed. 

"We didn't actually do it!" Will defended, Hopper cocking an eyebrow at him as he smiled sheepishly. "I swear, we didn't."

"No, but your plan was funny as hell." Lucas grinned, looking over at Dustin who was still laughing. 

"Okay, okay." Mike looked at him, rolling his eyes. "I'm sure his plan was fine." He tried to defend. 

Will looked at the two as they bursted out into laughter, he shook his head before looking back at Mike. 

"I wanted to take my moms long coat and sit on Lucas's shoulders so we'd pass as Dustin's dad." He admitted, Mike's face dropping as his younger self bursted into giggles. 

"Oh, honey." Joyce covered her mouth as she laughed, shaking her head. Even Hopper was chuckling, shaking his head as he did. 

"Will you looked like a baby in eighth grade, how could you think you'd pass as Dustin's dad in sixth?" Max was leaning on El, laughing openly as his sister watched in amusement. 

"Well," He felt his cheeks heating up. "I was gonna draw on a beard." 

The whole table exploded in laughter, everyone chattering to themselves as they wiped their eyes. 

His eyes were drawn to Mike, whose eyes were crinkled at the sides as looked right back at him. 

"That was a great plan." He said, locking eyes with him. "You definitely could've passed for Dustin's dad at eleven years old." 

"Yeah," Will laughed, shaking his head. "Yeah, I think so too."

The laughter died down when Hopper seemed to have come to some sort of realization, glancing between both Mike's and Will himself. 

Mike shifted a little uncomfortably as little Mike glared back at him. 

"What?" He scrunched his eyebrows, his face twisting in a way Will could almost laugh at. 

"I'm just trying to figure out how when we went to bed, there was only one Wheeler in the house and somehow, this morning there's two." Hopper looked to Will whose face burned as he cleared his throat.

Mike opened his mouth to argue, Hopper raising his hand with raised eyebrows. Will could see his eyes were gleaming, obviously not actually mad at the teen. “Nancy doesn’t count.”

"Uh..." Will glanced at Mike, who was now shoveling eggs into his mouth and avoiding Hopper’s stare.

"Mike and Will were playing Romeo and Juliet last night." Nancy said, smirking a little to herself as Jonathan snorted. 

"What?" Will gaped at the exact moment Mike choked on his bite of egg, a clump flying straight out of his nose and across the table.

He…didn’t even know that was possible.

"Ew, Mike!" His sister screwed up her nose at him, her eyes following the yellow chunk through the air as it smacked Dustin's cheek. "That's disgusting!"

"The fucking — egg!! You shot egg at me!!" Dustin glares down at the slimy piece of egg. 

"From his nose!" Lucas cackled as Mike held his nose and glared at them. 

"It's not like I did it on purpose!!" Mike threw his free hand up as Will handed him a napkin.

"That would be a stupid superpower." El commented, wrinkling her nose at the clump of egg on the table. 

"Thanks, El." Mike wiped his nose before glaring at his sister. "And we weren't playing Romeo and Juliet, I...I, uh, I had something really important to tell him last night and it couldn't wait."

"And what was it you needed to tell him in the middle of the night that couldn’t wait until morning?" Hopper crossed his arms, cocking an eyebrow at him as he sputtered intelligently. 

"That's private!" Little Mike squeaked, looking at his older self with wide eyes. "Private conversations? Ever heard of them?"

He didn't get what either Mike's were so worked up about considering Mike really only came over to apologize. He hadn't said anything else. 

Will sighed, "He just wanted to apologize about something. He was going to go home, but it was late and dark and nothing good happens to people who bike home when it's late and dark." He pointed at himself. "Case in point, me."

"That's...fair." Hopper looked back to Mike, who looked back at him with a semi-annoyed expression. The older man narrowed his eyes. "We have a front door, Wheeler. Quit climbing through my kids windows."

"What? It was only like, two other times!" Mike sputtered.

"Mike." Will hissed at him, widening his eyes to silently say, 'what the hell?' The other boys face fell so fast, he could’ve laughed.

"I knew it!! I knew you snuck in here before!" Hopper snapped his fingers as Joyce hid a smile behind her hand. 

"Hop." She shot him a look before looking back at Mike. "You're welcome anytime, honey. Maybe just let us know first. And your parents."

"Yes, Mrs. Byers." Mike hung his head a little, his younger self seeming just as bashful. 

Lucas and Dustin snickered, Max outright laughing at them as El looked at Will with a knowing smile. He really didn't like those implications. 

Eventually his mom and Hopper went to work while Jonathan and Nancy reluctantly left to go back to New York under strict orders that if anything suspicious or Upside Down related happened, to call them immediately and they'd be on their way back. They didn't want to leave, Will could tell. But they had a ten hour drive and eight am classes that they couldn't miss. 

Soon, only the party remained. 

He cleared his throat, looking across the table at Dustin. "So," He began, anxiety creeping up in his voice. "what's the theory?"

Dustin and Lucas shared a look, any humor from the previous moment was gone. He knew why Lucas was so keep on dissolving the tension when Dustin uttered the words. "Alright, just...hear me out."

All eyes were on him as he spoke, the group having moved into the living room so Dustin could have proper pacing space. 

"We've looked through every book we can find, asked Mr. Clarke, tried everything. We still haven't found anything and well," Dustin paced the floor, stopping to look down at while where he sat sandwiched between the two Mike's. "you're a mess."

"Thanks, Dustin." Will crossed his arms, little Mike immediately scooting even closer to him. "Really appreciate it."

"You know what I mean." Dustin sighed, pointing at his nose. "Nose bleeds, blowing shit up in your sleep? That's not normal, dude. Cool as hell, don't get me wrong, but you also look like you're on the brink of death."

"I think he looks good." Little Mike immediately sat up straighter, frowning when everyone looks at him. "What? Like I'm the only one who noticed how pretty—"

"Dustin, please go on!" Older Mike sunk down in the couch beside him, his voice just barely below a squeak as Max snickered beside him. 

"First, that conversation definitely isn't over." Dustin looked to Will, who felt so completely and utterly lost. "Second, something's going on with you and we're not going to find it in any of the books from the library."

"Are you saying I'm hiding something?" Will frowned, unable to keep the offended tone from his voice. His friends not trusting him is the last thing he needed, especially with whatever was going on with Mike. A pause could only last so long, a whole day was really pushing it. 

Dustin's hands shot up in front of him, shaking his head, "No! Not purposely, at least. It's like when you got possessed—"

"Dude." Lucas shot him a look, his eyes widening like he just broke a sacred rule. 

They always got weird mentioning his possession, which is kind of fair. It's not like he needed to be coddled though. The mere mention of it wasn't going to send him into a psychotic break. 

"Oh, sorry, I didn't—"

"Dustin, just get on with it." Mike spoke up, a glance in Will's direction somehow enough to know what he was thinking. Or maybe he was reading into it. Whatever. 

"Right, sorry." Dustin cleared his throat. "So, obviously, you knew something was wrong, but you couldn't tell what. Like you didn't realize that a monster was literally taking over you mind and body until the point of where you weren’t even yourself and you went all crazy and shit and—"

Will raised his eyebrows as Dustin stammered on, face twisting a little at his choice of words.

"Dustin." El raised her eyebrows. "To the point, please."

"Okay, okay!" Dustin heaved a sigh. "Anyway, it was deep down to where you just didn't see it. Deep in your subconscious. I'm not saying any of this is like, your fault or anything, but it could help us find out what might've happened."

"So, how are we supposed to look into Will's subconscious?" Little Mike frowned. "Like, hypnosis or something?"

"Or something." Dustin looked to El, who was already frowning. 

“You want me to—”

"No. No way." Mike interrupted her as looked at Dustin, his face scrunched up in the way it always does when he's about to start arguing with someone. "That's your theory? Invade Will's mind because you think he's subconsciously hiding something? That's a total invasion of privacy! There’s no way we’re doing that! There’s gotta be something else, like — like another book or Mr. Clarke could read into it more!"

“Mr. Clarke was a dead end, Mike, you said it yourself! There’s no way he just accidentally time traveled! It’s not possible!” Lucas glanced at Will, a troubled look on his face. “I hate this as much as you do, trust me, but it has to work.”

“Will it hurt him?” Little Mike’s eyes were wide. Will’s heart nearly broke at how concerned his voice was. It was hard not to miss that. 

“It could!” Mike answered back, his eyebrows furrowed. “Do you really want to put Will through reliving any of that shit again? After everything?”

“Of course I don’t, Mike!” Dustin sighed in exasperation, throwing his hands up. “I’m just saying, it’s not a coincidence that his powers are acting up and a younger version of you just happens to pop up!”

“Oh, so it’s Will’s fault now?” Mike’s eyebrows raised, his eyes narrowed as if challenging him. 

“Oh my god, Mike, no one is fucking saying that!” Max rolled her eyes.

The argument carried on, thankfully decently quiet as Will’s head throbbed. The lights flickered above their heads and a trickle of blood dripped from his nose. They were right, it was getting worse.

Will shifted uncomfortably. It made sense, what Dustin had said. But there was a lot of stuff in his mind that he wasn't too keen on his sister seeing. Memories and thoughts that he'd pushed back so far he was surprised he didn't shatter his skull and pour down his back. Feelings, in particular, he’d hidden and suppressed. Both past and present. Bitter jealousy of his own sister, love... He'd be completely exposed, no way to hide. No way to thinly veil the truth like he'd done so many times before.

But he couldn't be selfish. Not when Mike needed him.

"It's not your decision, Mike!" Max's aggravated voice cut through his thoughts. 

"Well, excuse me for actually taking Will into account when talking about this! How would you like someone to see all you thoughts and memories! You saw what happened to—"

"I'll do it." Will interrupted before Mike could finish his sentence. He didn't really want to see Max punch him. He put a hand on his arm, giving him a shaky smile. "It's okay. It's a good idea. I just needed a second to think." He took a deep breath, looking at everyone else. "I'll do it. You can look in my head."

El reached out, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You don't have to."

"I know." He gave her a small smile. "But I trust you."

El nodded, squeezing his shoulder before standing up. "I'll get my radio."

—

Soon enough, the coffee table was shoved to the side of the living room and a few pillows and blankets were strewn across the cold wooden floor with himself and El sitting across from each other other the small radio in between. 

"You still don't have to do this." Mike said from way too close beside him. "No one's going to make you."

Will sighed, shaking his head. "It's worth a shot, isn't it?" He looked over at him, slightly taken aback by the genuine concern in his eyes. "I'll be okay, Mike. We're okay now. The past can't hurt me."

Mike swallowed, his adam's apple bobbing with the movement. "I know, I just... I don't want you to feel like you have to go through any of that again."

Warmth pooled in his chest as he smiled softly at the boy beside him. "I know. I'll be okay. If anything happens, well, I have you here." He realized his mistake when Mikes eyebrows rose in surprise, his cheek tinged a pretty pink. "You guys, I mean. I have all of you guys here." He cleared his throat, a dark flush crawling up his neck. 

His friends all shot him soft smiles, ones that were a little bit too knowing for his liking. Little Mike, on the other hand, looked a bit like he swallowed a golfball. 

"Yeah," Mike reached out, placing a hand on his own. "I'll be here the whole time. Um, we will. All of us, I mean. Here…for you."

Will couldn't help but grin at his slip up. He wasn't reading into it, he swore.  But maybe, well, maybe he'd let himself have this one. Just this once. 

“Are you ready?” El’s voice ripped him from his thoughts, thankfully. She regarded him with a gentle smile. An out, he could tell. He spared a glance at the twelve year old beside him, hand yet again gripping the sleeve of his shirt. 

His heart clenched and he nodded. He knew El wouldn’t judge him, she would understand the memories she was bound to run across of his father. Of the kids at school.

He just hoped she wouldn’t hate him when she realized that he…

It didn’t matter. He wasn’t doing this for him, he was doing it for Mike. 

“Yeah,” He muttered softly as he flicked on the radio, static filling the quiet living room. “I’m ready.” 

He closed his eyes and everything went black.

Chapter Text

The light came first, burning into his eyes as the world formed around him. It wasn't now, but then.

A memory, one of the first he could vividly remember.

The sound of children's laughter, squeals of delight and joy filling the early autumn air. He could almost feel the remnants of summer clinging onto the breeze. It wasn't real, he knew that, but for a moment it felt like it was. Like it could be if he just closed his eyes — took a deep breath, then he'd be there. Really there.

"I think we're too far back, El." He looked beside him, his sister watching wide eyed at the school yard before them. "We're not going to find anything here."

The trees had just begun to show a tinge of yellow to their leaves, early signs of death upon them disguised by the enchanting hues. Soon they'd fade to brown and fall, branches left bare until the first snow fell upon them and making them beautiful again.

He remembered that winter fondly, his first with a friend. A real friend that wasn't his brother or his mom. It was all flushed cheeks and frozen noses, decorated snowmen and an ill attempt at an igloo that resulted in Nancy having to dig them out of a snow pile, the eight year old laughing at their snow sodden appearances as she dragged them inside to warm up. It was hot chocolate and Christmas movies in the Wheeler's basement, and clumsy attempts at teaching Mike how to play dreidel like his grandmother once taught him. He was actually pretty good at it, he remembered. Will wondered if he still was.

It was nice, he missed it.

He felt like his head was being squeezed for a moment, frowning when he felt the vague sensation of someone wiping his nose. His powers must've acted up again.

"Where is this?" El asked, pulling him out of his thoughts as she turned to meet his eyes.

"Hawkins Elementary," He replied airily, "I went to school here when I was little." His gaze fell on the playground, his eyes locking onto the swing set. "It's the first day of kindergarten."

"Oh," El took a few steps towards the gate, her eyes catching onto the familiar seen. Recognition flashes on her face, a small smile pulling at her lips. "Your light, I remember now."

A strange twist pulled at his gut as she looked at him, her expression far too knowing than he was comfortable with.

"El..."

"It's okay to be scared, Will." She cut him off, a gentle hand coming to his shoulder as her eyes searched his own. "I didn't choose this memory, Will, you did." Her voice was sincere as she continued, "Whatever is in your head, whatever you're afraid of me knowing, it does not matter. I'm here because I love you, nothing about you could change that, because it is you that I love. That's means everything that makes up you too. Even the parts you do not love. Everything."

Will swallowed, looking away to the swing set where two little boys sat with smiles on their faces, just barely swinging as they looked at one another while stumbling over excited conversation. He missed talking to Mike like that, like he had nothing to hide. Back then, he didn't. Neither of them did.

He wished he could remember where it all went wrong, where the string between them began twisting into a maze of knots, fraying all around and wearing down to a thin thread ready to snap. Maybe it already had, maybe all of this was just him grasping at the space between them with all connections broken. Had his gaze lingered just a moment too long? Did he stand just an inch too close? Was it just the result of growing up, the calamity finally ceasing permanently and leaving no need for Mike to worry about him anymore, allowing him to drift away as if the past eleven years meant nothing more to him than a momentary pause when Will's whole heart rested in the palm of his hands.

"You can't promise that, El." He said, watching the scene before him as longing tugged deep within the pit of his stomach for a time long gone.

"I can and I do." She took his hand gently. "Nothing will change, okay?"

He tore his gaze away from his younger self, looking down at his sister as his eyes burned. This wasn't a fight he would win; it wasn't one he even wanted to win. "Okay."

"Okay," She smiled, a gentle squeeze of his hand bringing a wave of calmness over him. "Are you ready to move on?"

He took a deep breath before nodding. It was only downhill from here; he knew that much. He couldn't hide in the light, not while El had to search his mind for even a glimpse of a clue to explain what was happening. She was going to see everything, every major memory, every moment that made him, well, him. It was going to hurt, it was going to tear him apart, he knew that.

But this wasn't for him.

"I'm ready." He said quietly and she squeezed his hand.

His world faded to black and he was cold again.

—

"I don't like how long this is taking."

"Mike, it's been five minutes." Dustin sighs, his eyes bouncing between his two practically comatose best friends.

"Yeah, and Will's already nearly busted a lightbulb, obviously something's wrong." Mike argued, pointing at the bloodied tissue that was now lying in front of him. To no one's surprise, he'd moved as close as humanly possible to Will the second the first light flickered, Max couldn't even see it and yet she still rolled her eyes at his obviousness.

"El wouldn't purposefully put Will in danger. If something wasn't right, she'd get them out of there. He's okay, Mike." Max's voice was kind, none of the hostility she once held many summers back remained in that moment. "He's okay."

He sighed, looking to the little boy on Will's other side. He felt a twinge of sympathy for him, his smaller hands white knuckling Will's sleeve as he stared at him with wide, misty eyes. He was scared for him, Mike wondered if he was scared for the same reasons he was.

Will didn't talk about his dad much, or at all, if he's honest. In the past year, Hopper had begun to take the spot his father left, filling it with much more pride and honor than his real dad had. While Will didn't call him 'dad', he did occasionally lump him in with the title 'my parents' in casual conversation. He'd even seen Hopper bite back a smile a few times at the title. As far as Mike was concerned, anything was better than that piece of shit Lonnie.

He'd said as much, once. He's sure his younger self remembers, probably even more clearly than he did. Will had come to school with bruises on his arms and a scratch on his face, had lifted his arms to reach up to a top self and Mike had seen purple smattering of bruises on his ribs. It was the week before Lonnie left them when Joyce and Jonathan were out of town for the night, for a reason he can't remember. Mike had snuck out and gone over their house with a plan soon after, eight years old and filled with enough rage to last a lifetime. He still felt it sometimes, when a loud noise would make Will flinch, or someone gestured a little too wildly and a little too close, his breath hitching almost inaudibly. Mike heard it, though.

He always did. How could he not?

He'd first arrived early the next morning to the Byers house with the sharpest rock he could find outside his house, hiding behind Lonnies car after hiding his bike in a bush one street over from the long driveway that led to the Byers home. Then he'd dug that rock straight through the cars paint, leaving long jagged lines up and down the doors. He may have thrown in some curse words here and there for good measure before carefully opening up the door.

Quietly, Mike took off his backpack and pulled out half a jug of milk, a jar of honey, and four eggs his mom probably wouldn't miss (she did, but he blamed it on Nancy) and got to work pouring and smearing and smashing it all over his seats.

Lonnie was a big bragger, prouder of his piece of shit car than he was of his family. Mike remembered getting a call that night after Lonnie had passed out, the hushed voice of Will Byers relaying the story of some 'punk teen' who trashed his fathers’ car through a fit of giggles. The milk had curdled, and the eggs had nearly cooked in the heat of the sun, making the car sticky and smelly, which was exactly his goal.

He didn't tell Will it was him until the day after Lonnie left, when Will was stuck between a state of grief and relief. He'd laughed so hard, his stomach hurt and tears of laughter, not pain, trailed down his cheeks as he leaned on him for comfort. He hadn't done that in a long time, but he knew that was his own fault.

It was easy to say that it was worth it though, even when his mom found out and grounded him for a month.

Now, however, he was riddled with a knot of nerves in his stomach at the idea of his best friend having to relive any of that. The words, the pain, all of the shit his father put him through. Of middle school bullies and harsh words. Of having to relive memories of the Upside Down, of the Mindflayer, of fucking Vecna.

Everything he never should've had to go through in the first place, let alone be subjected to for a second time.

"He says he is okay." El's voice broke through, he looked at her and she still had her eyes covered and her nose had a drop of blood coming from it, Dustin handing a tissue to Lucas who dabbed it away. Her lips twitched into a tiny smile. "We were at the playground. It was a good memory, happy."

Temporary relief flooded his veins, he looked at Will and couldn't help the soft smile that pulled at his lips. He knew the memory; he knew it all too well. The urge to reach out and grab his hand was strong, but Will had to focus.

He swallowed it back, his fingers gripping his own pant leg instead.

"It was a good memory." He agreed softly, his younger self looking up to meet his eye. A look of understanding passed between them. He smiled a little, the younger boy smiling back just a little as his watery eyes returned back to Will's face.

El went silent again, a light flickered above them, and on to the next memory they went.

—

They come and go, the memories.

They flood in, harsh at times and soft at others. Small things, all the firsts. The first playdate him and Mike had, first time they rode bikes together, first time they had a sleepover. When they saw Star Wars for the first time, then a second, third, and five time after Mike begged and begged his parents with wide eyes and a toothless grin for just one last time. By the end of the summer, they saw it seven times.

Soon, though, they found themselves in Will's old bedroom, standing in the doorway as his younger self sat on the bed, his hands covering his ears and his cheeks wet with tears, the red imprint of a hand glowed in the low lighting. It was late summer 1979, he was eight years old, he remembered that night all too well. He remembered every raised voice, every glass smashed, every sob, and cry, and scream.

It was the night his dad left, left for good that time.

It started with a comment. A nasty comment spat at his eight-year-old self, just sitting at the table drawing a new picture for Mike's new story he made up. They were secret agents in a top-secret operation, partners fighting crime under cover. He thought it was really cool, his dad didn't agree. Maybe it was his fault for drawing their hands together, but it was for a reason. It was so they wouldn't get scared, because if they knew they had each other then nothing could hurt them. It made sense to him, Jonathan said it made sense as he sat with him that night with a roll of tape and no less than thirty shreds of colored notebook paper. It was an innocent drawing, made by an innocent kid. Nothing more and nothing less, but his father didn't see things that way.

His dad said it was disgusting, something called 'diabolical' and 'wrong'. A sin, whatever that meant, as he tore and tore, ripping away at the paper and throwing it back down at the table, spit flying from him mouth as he yelled. He still remembered the reek of whatever alcohol he was drinking that night. The slamming of his fathers’ hands on the table echoed in his mind, the sound of his hand against his cheek nearly deafening even eight years later followed by his mothers’ cry and brothers yell.

He'd never hit him in front of them before, not like that. Not that hard.

His stomach churned at the thought, his eyes glued to the trembling child sat on the bed. Jonathan was in the living room too that night, right by their mother's side as his father yelled obscenities. Saying he was no son of his, a freak, a f—

"What happened?" Els’ eyes were on him, wide and confused as the yelling increased. "Who hurt you?"

Will swallowed, shaking his head. "I want to move on."

"It was your dad?" El took a step closer as the door slammed, all three of them jumping though his younger self cried harder, Will only felt relief. He was gone, he knew what happened next.

"Yeah," He replied softly as the door creaked open, his mother and Jonathan stepping in before enveloping him in their arms. Their soft whispers still rang in their ears, unnecessary apologies and I love you's echoing through the years. A memory built on pain and anguish soothed with a soft mist of hope, the haze covering it like a blanket in the midst of a harsh winter. The warmth thawing the resentment and leaving only passive indifference. "Yeah, it was him."

El reached out, taking his hand. "I'm sorry," she said with a gentle squeeze of her own hand. "You're safe now, he can't get you here. I will never let him touch you again." Her voice was mildly threatening, and he knew she meant it. It didn't matter now, he hadn't heard from his father since before he was trapped in the Upside Down, he doubted he had any plans of coming back. It was a nice gesture; he appreciated her comfort regardless.

His smile was shaky as he squeezed back. "I know."

The family huddled together on the bed before they disappeared in the blink of an eye. He was okay after that, for a while at least. Mike spent the whole next day with him, confessing to messing up his dads’ car the week prior and making everything feel okay again when he put his arm around him.

The memory shifted around them as that very scene came to life in a vivid fashion.

Will didn't know what love was just yet, not then, but if he'd had to guess? Well, he probably felt just that. The pull of his heart beating wildly in his chest, toothy grins despite the tears streaming down his flushed cheeks. It was in the laughs that came easy, just from Mike being around. He couldn't ever pinpoint the exact moment where things changed in the way he looked at his best friend, but if he gave his best guess, it had to be that day when Mike held him close and holding his broken pieces together with nothing but soft smiles and his gentle voice.

It was a bond that could've never been broken.

Should've never been broken. But it was, maybe irreparably. Mike was being nice for the time being, yet another problem had arisen and while he wasn't in imminent danger, he's seen this all before. Once all was said and done, Mike would likely go back to ignoring him. It's just how it worked.

He felt another twinge, another swipe of his nose, and then the world shifted around him again.

At first, he was confused.

He stood by El, right in the middle of the Wheelers garage, nothing around them but the pouring rain just beyond the opening of the garage. A glance at his sister and she held a similar expression, her brow furrowed and mouth opening to question him before the door busted open, startling both of them.

Will's first thought was 'fuck' followed by a long string of 'oh no, no, no, no'.

"Will, come on! You can't leave, it's raining."

He backed up, watching with wide eyes as his fourteen-year-old self stormed out of the house with a younger Mike trailing after him, his hands were shaking and the pressure in his head was building. He couldn't do this, he couldn't hear those words again, he couldn't see the aftermath, he couldn't—

—

Something was wrong.

The lights were going absolutely insane, Will's face no longer relaxed but pinched as if he were in pain, blood trailing from his nose down his lips as he clenched his shaking hands into fists.

"El?" Mike sat up straighter, his eyes bouncing between her and Will. "El, what's going on?"

"It's raining." Her voice is a little flat, tinged with confusion. "Will is mad."

Dustin's eyebrows furrow. "He's mad that it's raining? Like, current Will?"

"No, and no. Memory Will. He is mad at Mike. At Lucas too, I think." El's voice is a little more annoyed now, Max's eyebrows raise in question, but she stays silent.

"Huh?... Oh, shit." Lucas muttered under his breath; Mike's turned his head to him fast enough for it to crack. Their eyes met and Mike knew Lucas was feeling at least half as guilty as he was.

He wondered if Lucas ever got to properly apologize for the shit they'd put Will through that summer.

"What did you do?" His younger self's eyes were locked on him, his eyebrows furrowed. "Why—"

"It's not my fault you don't like girls?" El repeated quietly, the room going completely silent as all eyes fell on Mike. Her eyes are moving a little more frantically behind her eyelids. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Will's eyes flew open as he pulled himself from the memory and a lightbulb shattered across the room, his face is pinched as he looks to El, roughly wiping his nose onto his sleeve, the blood staining the fabric immediately. "Stop."

"Will—"

"El, that doesn't have anything to do with this, okay? Can we please just move on?" His voice was pinched, avoiding everyone's eyes but El. He couldn't stay one second longer, he already knew what was next. And he knew he couldn't take seeing that again. Reliving the pain and the destruction. "It was a dumb fight, it doesn't matter."

"When did this happen?" Max nudged Dustin who shrugged, his eyebrows raised in both confusion and concern as he shot him a questioning look. Will hated it.

"That's what you said to him?" Lucas hissed quietly, leaning towards Mike whose eyes were solely on Will.

"Lucas, stop." Will pinched the bridge of his nose. "This was a mistake, we're not going to find anything—"

"Will, I cannot control what memories you are thinking about." El said, her frown tinged with a little annoyance. "It's a good plan, we just have to get through it. You have to focus. Even if Mike was a mouth breather, don't focus on Mike, focus on Mike."

"I'm so lost." Dustin muttered under his breath, taking his hat off and rubbing his head.

Will pressed his lips together. He felt exposed, like he was stripped down to nothing but muscle and bone with everyone's eyes glued to him. Watching and staring and — "Fine. Just," He looked to Mike for a moment. His face had fallen, his mouth open as if he wanted to say something. He didn't want to hear it, he didn't want an apology. He didn't need one, it was over. Done. He was over it.

He was supposed to be over it. So why the hell was he even thinking about it?

Mikes voice broke through his thoughts, "Will, that's not—"

"I said that to you?"

The tiny voice beside him broke through his thoughts, Will turning to see the younger boy staring up at him in horror.

"I said that to you?" He repeated, his lower lip trembling as met Will's eyes. "What she just said, that was me?"

"It's okay, Mike, just calm down" Will reached out to clasp his shoulder from where he sat beside him with wide eyes. "It wasn't like that."

"No..." He muttered, shaking his head. "No, no, no... I said — I said that? Why would I say that?"

"It's doesn't matter, okay? It was a long time ago and — it just doesn't even matter anymore." Will shifted uncomfortably as the younger Mike turned his head to his older self.

In a split second, he was on his feet barreling towards his older self, seething.

Shit, not again.

"You asshole! How could you?! You're just like everyone else! You — you piece of shit!" His voice raised, his eyes burning as he grabbed at Mike's shirt. "What's wrong with you?! Huh?! What's wrong with you?!"

Mike didn't react, letting himself be yanked upward by his younger self and taking every push and shove that came his way. His eyes locked on Will with insurmountable sadness etched into his face. It hurt to look at him like that, to see how his face had fallen.

"Hey! Stop!" Will pulled him off of Mike, spinning him around and pulling him out of the living room and into his bedroom as everyone stood around the room with horrified looks. He bent down to fully meet his eyes. "You need to calm down. It's not his fault, okay? You need to stop. It was a stupid fight. It's didn't mean anything."

Clearly, this was not the right thing to say as Mike's already heavy breathing ticked up to a truly concerning level as they stood in Wills bedroom. He was practically hyperventilating, which Will figured wasn't good. Well, he knew it wasn't good, but how do you calm down the younger version of someone who is mad at the older version of their self that they eventually have to grow into and become? This isn't how he wanted to spend his Sunday afternoon in the slightest.

He was skipping school tomorrow, definitely without a doubt.

Regardless, Mike pressed on.

"It is! It is his fault! He hurt you! Just like Troy and James and your dad and all those other mouth breathers! You should hate him! You should hate me! Why don't you hate me?!" Mike's voice broke through his thoughts, shaking with unbridled emotion and rage. He was always the type to wear his emotions on his sleeve, quick to anger and easy to blow up when he was upset. He'd mellowed out a little as the years passed, but Will still remembered this Mike like the back of his hand.

Like Will could ever forget anything about Mike.

"He was a kid, he made a mistake." Will watched his face twitch angrily, small hands twisted into fists at his side. "He didn't mean it."

"He hurt you!" He argued, his voice rising even more. "It doesn't matter if he meant it! He said still said it!"

"I forgave him." Will said without hesitation, looking down at him as he continues fighting him.

"Why? Why should you?" Mike glared up at him, the beginnings of tears collecting at the corners of his eyes.

It was clear how hurt he was, hurt that he could weaponize the one thing people had been using against Will his whole life, spit it into his face like it was nothing. He understood, it's exactly how he had felt when those words shot out of Mike's mouth and directly into his chest, ripping his very being to shreds. He felt it when he sat in Castle Byers in the pouring rain before ripping it all down with just a bat, his hands and insuperable pain.

He understood because he felt it, he felt it all over him like a stain that would never come out. But it did, it washed away over the years, fading to only a speck in his memory as proof that it ever happened.

A speck as exposed as a live wire, despite it all.

He'd forgiven him, he'd always forgive him. There wasn't a thing in the world that he wouldn't forgive Mike for, and well, maybe that made him weak or dumb or naïve. But — but maybe it just made him, him. He didn't need an apology or an explanation, he needed his best friend.

He could fight back, call Mike out on his contrarian shit and stand up against him. He could do that, and he does, but to not forgive him? To forever hold against him the mistakes he made, the stupid things he said? It was unimaginable. It wasn't him. Will wouldn't be Will if he did.

"Because I-" Will snapped his mouth shut, avoiding his eyes. "Because I just did."

"That's not fair!"

"Mike!" Will finally rose his voice just a little as his frustration got the best of him, Mike immediately shutting his mouth, his eyes widening in shock as Will took in a steadying breath before continuing in more collected tone. "He's been through a lot, you're going to go through a lot. It's not easy and people make mistakes and I don't blame him for any of it. Not a thing. What he said was, well, it was shitty and mean and it hurt, but it wasn't him. It wasn't even what he meant, just the wrong thing to say at the wrong time. We were both so angry for so many different reasons that you just don't get yet, that I hardly even get now, but nothing, nothing is worth losing our friendship over. You said it yourself, there's nothing that could make you hate me, why can't I feel the same way?"

Mike’s face softened at those words, looking as though he finally had understood.

"He still shouldn't have said that to you." Mike's voice was softer, looking up at him with wide, sad eyes, guilty of a crime he'd not yet committed. "I never would have said that to you."

"No, he shouldn't have." Will replied gently, "But he did, and I had to choose if it was worth losing him over and it wasn't. It was my choice to forgive you, Mike. And given the chance, I'd do it again every time."

Mike looked at him for a moment, his face stuck in a frown as he watched him. A moment passed and he looked away, his hands clasped in front of him as his eyes slowly moved up to look at Will again.

"He's better now? " He asked softly, as if the answer could make or break him. "I'm better now?"

"It's been a rough few weeks for us sure, but..." Will glanced at the door, his mind going to how things were before the fight, before Mike finding out he lied.

Things had been good; they were great even. Mike shared just about every class with him, they had the same lunch and study hall, all of which they spent together. On weekends, they were never apart. Even when Will had to help Hopper with cleaning out the attic, Mike was right there with him, saving him from the occasional spider that tried to crawl on him.

It was good, they were good.

But good things never last long, it's a lesson he's learned time and time again. So really, he shouldn't have been surprised about the recent turn of events, that being Mike finding how he lied about the painting nearly two years later and then waking up to find the younger version of his (hopefully still) best friend on his bedroom floor.

Bad luck always seemed to follow wherever Will Byers went, so why should he be surprised that it found him again?

Still, that was on him, not Mike.

"You're the same as you've always been, Mike." Will finishes, looking to the door with a sharp feeling in his chest. "You're my best friend, through and through. There's a reason he's the first person I went to when you showed up."

"You said it was because you needed the SuperCom?" Mike looked at him, his head cocked to the side.

"We'd been fighting, I was nervous he'd kick me out and so I lied." Will sighed, sitting on his bed as he rubbed his forehead. His head was pounding. "It was dead, but that's not why I went to him."

"Oh," Mikes frown only deepened as he moved closer, sitting beside him on the bed.

"It doesn't make it right, and I hate lying to him. To you." Will said, sitting on his bed. "But you need to know, he's not a bad person. He was never a bad person; he was just fourteen..."

They were silent for a moment, staring at the Jaws poster tacked onto his wall as it had been for countless years and several rooms. Stability in an otherwise ever-changing life.

"What did you lie about?" Mike asked, his hands no longer shaking. His voice was cautious, yet curious. "You never told me."

He considered deflecting the question or just lying again, not knowing of spilling his guts was the best plan of action when dealing with a problem he had yet to solve on any level.

"You don't have to tell me why now," Mike said, taking his silence as an answer in itself. "I'm sure you'll tell me one day, right? Older me?" He tilted his head a little to meet Will's eye, a gentle look on his face that held a level of understanding he didn't feel worthy of in the slightest.

It was a loaded question; one he's asked himself about a million times even before Mike found out he'd lied in the first place. Somewhere between Mike and El breaking up and Mike confronting him, confused and frustrated in his garage just like all those years ago, only there wasn't a fort to destroy following the harsh words — just himself.

"It's not any easier to tell you than it is to tell him," Will confessed, his eyes locking on the stray thread of his sweater. "I thought it might be, but it's not."

The twelve-year-old looked at him for a moment, his head tilted as if solving a complex math problem. He looked through him easily, as if Will were nothing short of a foggy glass window — transparent with nothing more than a swipe of a hand.

His eyes softened, a thought dawning on him as Will looked away, the exposure like a weight in his stomach.

"I think you should tell the truth." Mike said, his voice even despite a slight glimmer of his eye. "Friends don't lie, that's the rule, right?"

Will let out a quiet laugh. "We haven't been following that one much anymore."

"Maybe you should." Mike said softly, a little hand reaching out to rest on his hand. "Maybe he'd understand, you know, whatever it is."

Will looked over at him, tilting his head a little to the side. "You really think so?"

"Yeah," Mike said, "I really do."

Will watched him for a moment, unable to stave the unconditional trust he always felt with Mike. The younger boy looked up at him, significantly calmer than when he first dragged him into the bedroom, and he could tell that he knew something that Will didn't.

"Let's go," He said softly, "let's get you home."

Mike gave him a little smile and nodded, walking past him to open the door and stepping out into the hall leading to the living room. Upon opening the door, he could hear his friends and sister all whispering to each other, Mike sounding defensive and aggravated.

The hushed argument between the group silenced when they walked into the room. 

Will looked to them and saw the varying looks on their faces. Mike looked angry while everyone else looked...well, guilty and a little sad.

"Um, what?" He asked, feeling little Mike step closer to him. "If this is about what happened, it's fine, I'm not—"

"Dustin has a theory." Lucas said, cutting him off not unkindly.

"You might not like it, you're definitely not going to like it, but..." Dustin hesitated, Mike glaring at him.

"It's a stupid theory, it's not... It doesn't even make sense," Mike threw his hands up in exasperation as Max rolled her eyes. "It doesn't!"

"It does, Mike! You heard what El, said! You even said it yourself!" Max argued, leaning back on the couch.

Will looked to El, seeing his sister looking at him with a sad smile. "What? Did you see something I didn't?" He asked, "I really don't get how any of what we saw could tell use how Mike got here. The last memory was from two and a half years ago."

El looked to Dustin, "Tell him." She said quietly, the other boy frowning a little at Will.

"Okay," Dustin took a deep breath and slowly let it out slowly.

Will glanced at everyone around him, the pity in their eyes was like a ten ton weight on his chest. He hated it, the pit of his stomach felt hollow yet heavy and he felt a twinge of fear and anxiety tingling at the back of his neck.

"If my theory is right then," He said calmly, a sympathetic look on his face as he took a step forward.

“Then what?” Will asked, knowing already that he’s not going to like the answer.

“Then you were the one who brought him here, Will.”

Chapter Text

Will’s stomach twisted into knots, bile rose and burned in his throat as his eyes scanned the concerned faces of his friends. 

"What?" He breathed out, confused and conflicted, his palms sweating as both Mikes looked at him with varying looks of surprise and confusion. 

He looked down at his hands, and he knew it. He knew it was his fault, but he didn't understand how. How this happened, how he could do this. It wasn't like anything he'd done before, nothing even close to what he'd done just months ago. No, this was...impossible? But who was he to say what was or was not possible? He'd been trapped in an alternate dimension, chased by open-faced monsters, stalked and almost killed by an actual super villain. 

So really, how improbable was a little bending of time and space?

"I don't..." Will swallowed thickly, blinking rapidly as his eyes started to blur a little. "What?"

"Freaky mind powers," Dustin supplied, unhelpfully, as El elbowed him in the side with a glare. 

He was going to puke, improbable or not — arguably not, as the proof stared back at him with concerned doe eyes times two. 

"So, it's my fault," Will looked up, his mind reeling as he looked up at his friends. "I caused this? This is my fault? I did this?" He thought he might start hyperventilating, feeling like the air in his lungs was being turned into thick, gelatinous goo. He knew he was panicking; he knew he needed to calm the hell down, but the thought of this being his fault again? It was almost too much.

"Will, hey, no." Lucas took a step towards him, his hands held out placatingly. "Come on, man, it's okay..."

"No, no..." Will shook his head, looking at the little boy staring up at him with wide eyes. "Mike, I'm so sorry, I...I didn't mean to, I swear."

"Will, it's okay. We know it's been hard," Dustin tried, reaching out to touch his shoulder, wincing when he pulled back with a flicker of the light. "Shit."

"I'm sorry!" Will backed away, his eyes wide as panic washed through him. "I didn't mean to, I didn't!" He looked around at his friends, his gut twisting in knots. 

Mike had his hand on his shoulder, his eyes wide in concern, “It’s okay, hey, look at me, it’s alright. Breathe, Will, breathe...”

"It's not baseless, man," Lucas said, grabbing his shoulder and pushing him to sit on the couch. "Think about it."

Will looked at him, confusion clouding his mind. He thought back to the past month. Everything that happened, everything that went wrong…

—

The last moments of summer took her dying breath as the first fallen leaf crunched under the tires of Will Byers' bike. 

The calm had settled between the fear and the tension in his shoulders. All was well as he braced the handles against the wall of the Wheelers' garage. He felt the cool air in his lungs, soothing the typical anxiety that bubbled up as soon as the leaves started turning from a rich green to a softened yellow. 

Vecna was dead, reduced into nothing more than a pile of ash and the sick and twisted memories he scarred into the minds of the people of Hawkins. He could breathe, he could ride his bike without so much as a pinch in the back of his neck, goosebumps gone from his skin for weeks now. 

He smiled to himself as he pulled into the Wheelers' driveway, propping his bike up against the wall of the garage before knocking on the door. 

Mike had radioed earlier that afternoon, saying he wanted to talk about something. He couldn't help but feel a little giddy, just with how everything had been. It felt like the old days, pre-upsidedown old days, where they were attached at the hip. Will couldn't think of a day he hadn't seen Mike at least once, between sneaking over to one another’s house or hanging out in Mike’s basement like old times. They talked on the Supercoms practically the whole night every night since he'd moved out of the Wheeler house and into his new one following Vecna’s death. Hopper and his mom have been getting on him for the sheer amount of batteries he's been blowing through because of it. It didn’t matter; he had Mike back, the Mike he’d been missing since the summer of ‘85. He never knew he could feel so happy, so free, and normal. Like he didn’t have a ticking time bomb of a secret festering deep within, one he had been so sure of since he realized it, that it would implode and ruin every bit of happiness he managed to scrounge up.

But he was happy, he was safe, and his friends were safe. It was the first time in his life that he let himself hope and really believe he had a chance of a real future. Him and Mike had been looking at colleges recently, deciding to stick together for whenever it came time to apply next year. He could see it, two years time, just him and Mike in New York or California, maybe Chicago or Boston. Somewhere new, clear from all of the trauma of their childhoods.

The hope spread inside his chest, a warm and happy feeling. They’d been up all night talking last night, too, and he felt like maybe something was different. Maybe that’s what Mike wanted to talk about; maybe he felt it too.

Mike sounded serious this morning over the radio; the twinge of hope in his chest said maybe, maybe today is the day. Maybe he hadn't been reading into things or being delusional, and Mike felt the same—

The door opened, and Mike looked, well, good. Will swallowed as he looked up, shifting from foot to foot. 

"Hey," Mike greeted tensely, his jaw set and his eyes half guarded and half confused. 

Will's stomach twisted when he saw the rolled canvas in his hand. His eyes flicked back up to Mike's face, his furrowed brows, and pursed lips. He recognised what it was with no more than a fleeting glance.

"Hey!" He greeted nervously, his voice wavering a little as every ounce of hope drained from him. This wasn't what he thought, no, not what he’d hoped…

This was a confrontation. 

Mike closed the door, chewing his bottom lip. "El came over this morning. To borrow a tape from Nancy." He said, his hands gripping the painting a little. 

"Yeah, she's making a mixtape for Max,” Will said, his hands going in his pockets. “Uh, are you guys like, back together or something?” Stupid question, god, it was a stupid question.

Mike looked a little annoyed by the question, “No, no, of course not. She just came by my room to say hi.”

“Okay…” Will looked back at the garage entrance. “Well, I actually can’t stay too long because—“

“Why’d you lie, Will?” Mike interrupted him; his voice was steady, and his eyes hard, locked on Will’s.

“What?” Will immediately teased up, “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he stammered, his heart pounding in his ears. “I’m not lying, I really can’t stay long—“

“El said she didn’t know about that painting, Will. The one you said she commissioned? Mike snapped, lifting up the canvas. “I tried to give it back to her, since we broke up a few months ago, I thought maybe she’d want it back. But she had no idea what I was talking about.” 

Will swallowed, “I…” He felt like a trapped animal, his hands shaking inside his pockets. “It was so long ago, she probably forgot—“

“Bullshit, you lied.” Mike cut him off. “Why did you lie to me, Will?”

“I have to go,” He turned to grab his bike, Mike grabbed his arm and spun him back around. 

“Seriously? You’re just going to run away? You lied to me, Will! Friends don’t lie! Isn’t that the rule?” He was close now, too close and too angry, and Will couldn’t fucking breathe. 

He’d read it all wrong, let himself hope too much for too long, and now look at him. His eyes stung; he looked around for a way to escape. 

“It doesn’t matter,” Will bit out, trying desperately to keep it together. He couldn’t cry; he couldn’t let himself fall apart when this was his fault.

“It does fucking matter, Will! It matters a lot!” Mike sounded so hurt and so angry. He wanted to cry and scream and run as far away as he possibly could. 

“It’s not my fault you couldn’t tell your own girlfriend you loved her without me holding your hand and pushing you to do it!” He snapped out of pure desperation; he shouldn’t have said that. 

“You know what?” Mike’s face twisted in anger, and he shoved the painting into Will’s chest. “Just fucking take it, I don’t want it, I don’t want anything from you.” He spat. 

Will felt his heart shatter, looking up at him as he felt his eyes burn with tears. He took the painting in his shaking hands, looking down at it. “I’m sorry, I…” He felt like he was underwater or maybe just in an awful dream. 

Mike just scoffed, “Are you? Are you sorry, or is that just another lie too?” He turned, shaking his head. He took a few breaths, trying to calm down. He turned back to Will, his hands shaking and face a little calmer. “I just want to know why, Will…” He said, his voice softer but no less hurt.

“I’m sorry, I… I can’t…” Will just stumbled over to his bike, letting the painting fall to the ground as he got on quickly. He pedaled away as hard as he could as tears poured down his cheeks. 

“Will!!” He heard Mike calling, “Wait, Will!”

He couldn’t stand the way he was looking at him, the pain in his face. The hurt, the anger. It hurt so badly, of anyone, to have Mike Wheeler look at him with such…vitriol. 

He remembered the days following, phone calls, and knocks on doors. Ducking into different hallways and classrooms to avoid him, avoid the hurt and angry looks. He avoided everyone, just short of El. 

El apologized for telling him about the painting, not realizing that Will had lied. 

“I would not have said anything if I knew, Will…” She said softly, rubbing his back that night. 

It made him feel worse than he’d even made her consider lying for him in the first place. What a mess he’d made; his intentions were never to hurt Mike. But he did, he did, and now he couldn’t even tell him why…

Then the calls stopped, the knocking stopped… What Will thought would make it easier to let go made him feel as if a part of himself had disappeared.

All he knew was how much he missed him, how much he wished he could turn back time and have back the Mike that still trusted him. Have back the Mike that could look him in the eye and still see him for something other than a liar.

—

Will looked around the room, the lights calming as he met Mike’s eyes. His eyes were wide as he connected the dots, the pieces of the puzzle finally falling into place.

His memories were filled with Mike; all of them were him being there for him and caring for him. Even after the fight in the rain, he came back. He biked through the storm just to apologize. He cared; he still trusted him. Will had never lied to the Mike in his memories. 

“Oh,” Will breathed out, “oh…” He sat down on the couch as his friends stared at him with concern. The lights stopped flickering. 

“You figured it out?” Lucas asked cautiously, his hand still on one of his shoulders.

“So the theory’s right?” Dustin looked at him, frowning a little.

“I think so…” Will looked up, wiping the blood from his nose. “I think… Dustin’s right. It’s my fault.” He looked at Mike, his Mike. “I… I need to talk to you.”

Mike’s eyebrows raised in surprise, watching Will stand up shakily. He looked concerned at how drained he was, but nodded. “Okay,” He looked at other friends who all shared a look, immediately grabbing their things and making excuses about going outside for some air. 

Little Mike was more stubborn. “I’m him too, so you’re talking to me too, right?”

Will opened his mouth to tell him no when Lucas yoinked him up and threw him over his shoulder. “We’ll be outside.” He said with a small salute. 

Will gave him a grateful smile as they all piled out the door. He turned to Mike and grabbed his arm, pulling him to his bedroom. He shut the door, and he took a few deep breaths. This was going to be one of the hardest things he had ever done, but if he’s right about this, about getting it all off of his chest – then maybe then he’ll finally be able to get Mike home.

And maybe get his Mike back too on the way…